Dark art , true colours

In the Guardian's media pages 14/3/05 Deborah Bonello put forward the notion that Art and Design were more closely related in the 80s and cited a piece of work my company was responsible for as an example - the 'Tate by Tube' poster for London Underground.



The article stated that this piece of work was originally an advert for the gallery but was now considered a piece of art in it's own right.

Back in January Tim Ashton - Creative Director at Antidote (a clever bunch of creative people working across a broad range of media, without regard to traditional sector boundaries) opined in 'Creative Review' that the Tate by Tube poster was "an advertising idea brilliantly executed by a design company". One of the only examples he could think of in that regard.

I can't complain that nearly two decades later people still have nice things to say about the piece, but it does seem odd that it's relevance is being re-framed. It's almost as if being a good bit of design is somehow not a sufficient end in itself. For it to have any real merit it has to be appropriated by another area of creative endeavour.

Whatever the case, over the intervening period, I've noticed an increasing reluctance for clients to either consider or afford new art - either with a small 'a' or otherwise. London Underground has a long history of commissioning amazing public art and I consider myself fortunate that my company - The Fine White Line - came under their spotlight at the time.

There have been increasingly rare opportunities to create lasting pieces of graphic art since then.

Image libraries, it would seem, now rule the roost - off the shelf and just-in-time solutions seem to be the norm rather than the exception.

Could it be that with technology fuelled reductions in the overall cost of production, original commissioned art - which was an important but modest part of the overall cost of any job - has now become a conspicuous element in the production mix? And as a result has come under the increasing scrutiny of the 'beancounters'. Certainly, aside from big budget productions, the use of original illustration and photography seems to be in decline. More's the pity. It was always one of the most cost effective ways of creating a uniquely identifiable presence.