From the Greek – Kallos= beauty & grapke=writing So that would be beautiful writing
The wiki site gives a contemporary definition of the art of giving forms to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner. But this says nothing of beauty.
We can agree that Calligraphy is an art form and that it should be beautiful which is subjective and it should be expressive. Calligraphy could be considered an artistic craft. It serves a function of communicating so maybe the definition should have a mention of communicating something. That is in effect what writing does. And calligraphy is writing or we’ll say fancy writing.
Now we also know that writing is a form of drawing. So now we can say that calligraphy is a form of drawing. It uses lines and these lines have certain qualities and characteristics that make the calligraphic letters beautiful or interesting. It also has shape and form so that now we can say that it uses the elements of art. Does this make it art? I think the definition of art is subjective so you will have arrive at that answer on your own. I for one believe that it very well can be an art based upon what I have written above.
Calligraphy may be a dying art form now because of computers and fonts. I believe we are a fairly lazy society and a Calligrapher’s prices can be high. But it is a mechanical art form that can be practiced and learned so as opposed to using a computer program entirely, a combination of hand done and computer might cut prices allowing everyone, willing to put in the time, to obtain the beauty of the written word to express their feelings in a wedding invitation, a religious event, an invite to a birthday party or an birth announcement.
Graphic artists use calligraphy and calligraphic devices to make their artwork. Look at a movie poster or CD cover. Look at the written words and examine how they draw your attention to them and what they are saying. Think about posters like no smoking posters. Does the lettering say anything about the message? Can they alone, express a message. Yes they can and the good, the best often do. It gives the message a harmonious feel where all the parts are working together.
Note : Above caligraphy is a real production of Huma art :)