Art vs. Design - The Simpsons - Research assignment

As my presentation for an art or design website, I used the Simpson's website (www.thesimpsons.com). I chose this website because I do love the show, but more importantly, I realized that I had a good opportunity to compare the art of the show, with the design that the website brings. The show itself is obviously art, maybe not the best art because that is not the point of the show, but it is definitely art given it is a cartoon. Now the nice part abuot the show being art itself, is that the website now does not have any trouble adding the art part. They are able to use the art of the show, and make it into design.

For example, my favorite part of the website is the page where they show a frame from each of the 400 episodes over the past years. In the background, there is a picture of Homer, and the colors of his body blend in with the frames that are over him. This part of the page is considered art because of how the various frames are integrated with Homer's body. This page is not only an art page though. I believe that this page can also fall under the design category. The reason that this could be design is because when you roll over one of the frames from the episode guides, the frame becomes enlarged so that you can look at the picture better. But what this design does to make the site even more descriptive is that when you click on that frame, more information about the episode comes up. This is created by a webdesign person because the purpose of this part of the website is to give information about the episode, rather than present the art of the Simpsons.

In my head, I see a definite difference between art and design. Yet, art and design have been able to become much more integrated ever since the uprising of the internet. The internet has allowed art to be organized, and sorted by design. Art is very free flowing, and design has more structure to it. I believe that design has been used with art on the internet in order to organize art. Art is given more publicity with the use of the internet and design online. For example, there is another part to the Simpson's website that shows the different episodes. In this case, the episodes are sorted in a virtual file cabinet. This page helps to prove my point that design is used to organize, and structure art. File cabinets are used in order to be organized. That is why it is very interesting that the website decides to use a virtual file cabinet to sort all of their episodes (which is the art).

Another good thing about this website is that all of the design aspects of it are very simple and to the point. Since the design on this website is so simple, it is easy to find the art that the website is composed of. Design compliments art so that art can be more easily accessed on the web, and in a sense giving art more publicity. The Simpsons website is a great example of how people were able to create a site, in which they designed easy ways for people to find information on the show (which is considered art). The art of the show was organized by simple, well designed web pages.