26 January 2010

Debbie Millman Week - How to Think Like a Graphic Designer


This week to celebrate Debbie Millman speaking in Orange County, I am devoting this blog to her many contributions to this profession that we all love, design. I will start with her first book, How to Think Like a Graphic Designer.

A better title might be How to Thing Like a GREAT Graphic Designer because this book is full to the brim with interviews from the greatest in the profession. Designers that are covered in this book include Paula Scher, Michael Bierut, Milton Glaser, Chip Kidd, Stefan Sagmeister, Neville Brody, Jessica Helfand, Seymour Chwst, Stephen Doyle, Abbott Miller, Massimo Vignelli and many more. As you can see by that list, it is some of our greatest working today.

The book seems to be a natural extension to the radio show that Debbie does, Design Matters. Design Matters is a series of hour long interviews with designers that gives you a better understanding of their accomplishments, how they got started, and their approachs and methods of design. Design Matters archives are available at the Design Observer site and on iTunes.

I have a theory that for us to truly become great at what we do, we have to study not just design and its theories but also those that have come before us. We have to gain a better understanding of how to be a designer daily and what works and does not work from others.

How to Think Like a Graphic Designer's interviews are smart and lively. Debbie's interviews give us the understanding that we need to step up to greatness as a designer. The book inspires you to design, to breath design in with a deep inhale, and is unjustifiably, a great read. To get your own copy check out Amazon or your local book story.

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