People ignore design that ignores people - Frank Chimero

There is an art to achieving good design, that, however doesn’t mean that good design is also a piece of art. Leonardo's Mona Lisa is art. Van Goh’s Starry Night is art. Michallangelo’s statue of David is art. Your company website is not.

As graphic designers our job is to make things look beautiful, isn't it? No. At least not entirely. As much as we would like the freedom to create things that look absolutely stunning, that’s really not our purpose. Nor is it to utilize the coolest technology, the most creative imagery, or even the slickest typographical treatments.

These are all things we do, but when designing, our real purpose and ultimate goal is to frame a communication from a business to a customer or prospect. Everything else needs to be influenced and controlled by that simple idea. If it’s not, then chances are the design will not be as effective as it could have been.

Simply put, graphic design is the art of visualizing communications.