Schmidt, Christine (2010). PRINT WORKSHOP: HAND PRINTINGTECHNIQUES & TRULY ORIGNAL PROJECTS. New York, NY: Potter Craft, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York
This debate about the differences among craft, design, and art has been occurring for hundreds of years, is likely occuring at this second in hundreds of locations, and will be occurring thousands of years from now. The differences are evident, but their exact divisions are cloudy. It comforts me to know that there will never be definative resolution, because my own opinions are just as cloudy. But like everybody who is passionate about these pursuits, I have an opinion.
Craft is the skill and technique used to create an object: the "how" something is made by hand with a specific medium. Design and art both use craft. Art and design are not seporated by appearance but by aim. Design conveys information. Art conveys emotion. Design's goal is functionality: to serve a purpose such as informing or performing a task It is all about utility. Art is its own function: art's goal is to encourage contemplation.
This is not a book about aesthetics or the study of experiencing a work of design or craft. For me the process of bringing something into existence is the reward. Every person in a creative persuit --- visual, musical, or literary --- works for that rare moment when the structure of the medium falls away, leaving just you and "the making."