Applied art, and the intrigue
Omkar Sane, who recently launched his debut novel, talks about applied arts

By Omkar Sane
The other day some of my cousins came visiting after a long time. They're from Dombivali, and needless to say our worlds are really different. After the usual small talk, and the inane, detail observations my aunt made about everything, the next round of conversation began.

"You've graduated isn't it?"

"Yes."

"In what?" She immediately bounced back with the next one. It was like an inspector and a culprit. I knew what was coming. I was going to be cornered. I knew, for all my worth, I won't be able to explain what the hell I exactly did.

"In Applied Art."

Applied Art? She winced, like I had just told her I sold crack.

"What's that?" She quipped.

Ouch. My worst fear had come true. And it wasn't just that day. Filling a simple bank form invites questions from the otherwise bored bank staff. Somehow, my degree and my profession bring them to life; trigger an irresistible urge to ask me the obvious. What does that mean? What exactly did you do? My mom has an ambiguous answer to that one. He's an artist she says. Not that that answer doesn't invite further probe. So can he draw my son's portrait? Will he make a landscape for our office? He must be drawing such lovely rangolis for diwali na? A cartoon surely? Their enthusiasm turns to suspicion when she says, no.

No? What kind of an artist is that? Isn't an artist supposed to know all that?

Well, is he? If I don't am I not an artist? Does a degree from Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, the premier art institute in the country guarantee that I will be able to do all that? In an ideal world, it does. Maybe a few decades back, it did. But there's a little detail they all miss. The Applied Art bit. It's art, don't get me wrong. But it's not exactly about making you an artist. There's a little difference between us and them.
'Us' being the ones who don't fit society's definition of an artist and 'them' are the ones who do.
And therein lays the problem.

So who is this applied artist anyway? Well, he's the movie-maker, the photographer, the set designer, the brand builder, he's everywhere.

As an applied artist, we learn the basics of design - from design principles, colour wheels, to layouts, etc. Layout is the art or process of arranging a few elements onto a page or an empty space so that it looks appealing as a complete unit. Some follow grids, some don't. It is the reason that an ad/design has a good eye movement. Eye movement is nothing but how your eye moves across the design. A good layout means nothing hurts the eye; everything gets the importance it deserves, but doesn't yet cancel each other out.

The language of colour is very important. Each colour has its own density; it speaks something to each one. The feelings it evokes are different. And we live with colour. We explore colour; we experiment with it.

We learn the basic principles of design - Isolation, Domination, Repetition, and Radiation. There are ways and means to achieve a good design. Not all of us are born with that sense of design. Some acquire this sense. Of what can look good or bad. And not just on paper with paints and pencils, no. It can be a photograph, a set which you can walk through, it can be an ad, and it can be graffiti on the wall too. Anything in life can be made into a good design. And that's what we are taught to do.

We learn different typefaces. How a typeface communicates a mood, an event, a sound, etc. We're taught how to make ads that look good, are intelligent, and not clever. We're taught to be creative. Creativity isn't just plucking out ideas out of thin air. There are some ways to arrive at ideas too.

In a nutshell, we're not artists in the true sense of the word. We're taught the science of art, the methodical ways of creating functional art. We are taught what looks good and what doesn't and why. We can not just tell a good rangoli from a bad one, but we have the knowledge to turn the bad one into an extraordinary one.

We're artists, but of a different kind. We create to communicate, to sell. It's not art for arts sake. We solve problems for clients. And being able to draw well or paint exceptionally doesn't always have anything to do with it. A photographer who's completed Applied Art may not be able to draw to save his life, but when he clicks a picture, he's putting to use some things he learnt on the way of becoming an applied artist.

We as a species are necessary because of the visual culture that's taking over. We have over 100 channels on our TV at home. The place of visuals in our lives was never so important. Symbols and signage has always existed; but the visual upscale is increasing each day. And there's got to be somebody who tries and make it look all good and appealing. And that's why society needs an applied artist.

In the articles to come, I, an applied artist, who can't really draw or paint as well as the institute I passed out from expects me to; shall try and explain who we really are. And what we really do.

Me and my breed of artists have faced suspicion for long enough. It's not fair that society considers us a lesser artist just because we can't do what an artist, by society's conception, does. It's time someone took the egg called Applied Art, cracked it, and showed the world what it really is. It's about time someone scrambled this egg; lest nobody would ever know what they're enjoying.

Let's scramble the egg of Applied Art. It's about time.