Design versus Art

The other evening my wife made a comment why I didn’t pursue graphic design in college. The response was I really hadn’t ‘found’ my design interest at that time (although I did enjoy a fairly freeform art class in 8th grade). The conversation then proceeding to a comparison between my design work and the work and education of her best friend. That brought up the distinction between ‘art’ and ‘design.’ I describe my work as ‘design’ as I tend to use existing elements to compose a piece. The ‘art’ side of things uses original art for most of the piece. While I do have and use original art, much of my work lies in the combining of different elements. I also freely admit that my hand drawing skills are far from art-worthy.