Are logos design or art?

Designing is the conscious and deliberate act of devising a solution—not necessarily a creative solution—to a basic obstacle or specific function.

In graphic design, an obstacle could be as small as needing a logo, or it could be as complex as wanting to trick (and I use this term intently) a very specific demographic into misplacing their trust. If you’ve read Queering your brand, then you already understand how academia projects and manipulates branding goals to fit institutional, patriarchal, and capitalist narratives—duh. As designers, we are excellent at doing this. We are scoundrels, taught by the best, and have considerable student debts to prove it. After all, it’s in our best interest as artists passing as wannabe professionals, to sell the idea that design is important or crucial to success in the business world. That’s literally our job—design as a business—but that’s not design.

Design is only sometimes significant. Often not.