Design and art are two fields that require a good sense of creativity, aesthetics, and problem-solving. Although both design and art deal with creativity, the main difference between art and design is that art is mainly for creative pleasure, whereas design is a decision-making process that leads to a functional end product.
Art is often considered to be a subjective experience, where various interpretations of the same piece of art can be equally “correct." It is also a personal expression that allows for freedom of creativity. Art can also be completely different from one artist to the next; some artists create works that are more abstract, some may use paints and others use mixed mediums. In this sense, art is extremely open-ended in its definition and doesn't necessarily require professional training or even tools beyond what an artist might find in their own home.
Design, on the other hand, has a clear purpose that is defined by the client or designer themselves: they are tasked with creating something based on their client's preferences or vision. As such, design's goals are much more concrete than those of art and thus require clear guidelines to achieve them successfully. Unlike art (which can be made by anyone with an idea), design requires trained professionals who have been educated on how best to convey these ideas visually through their work.
When you design something, you are creating it with a purpose—which is why the main difference between design and art is the functional element. Designers are solving problems for others. They have to consider how people use their designs, or if they will use them at all. Designers have to take into consideration what people want, what they need, and how this affects the market as a whole. Art on the other hand has no boundaries; artists can create whatever they imagine being beautiful.
Good designers understand that usability comes first; those aesthetics come second. Good designers also understand that form follows function and good design must communicate its user value clearly and effectively in order to be successful. A designer may put their artistic talent to work through typeface choice or by choosing colors, but most of their work will be more practical than artistic in nature. Artistic pieces can often be impractical or non-functional but still beautiful while good design is always functional and usable before being aesthetically pleasing.
A great example of how art and design overlap would be when form follows function. For example, an artist might create a sculpture that represents the human form, but if a designer were tasked with making that sculpture into a chair, they could build upon the basic shape of the human body and make adjustments so that someone could sit in it comfortably.
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