Michael Bierut Talks Logo

The logo of Miami's New World Symphony is discussed by Michael Bierut in this video from The Atlantic Magazine. The symphony moved into a new building designed by Frank Gehry, and Michael tells us how Gehry's drawings and the movement of a conductor's baton developed into the logo.

Also of related interest on The Atlantic website are a 13 more stories on how the creative spark of ideas comes about titled "How Genius Works". Included are stories of Chuck Close, Paul Simon, Tim Burton, and Frank Gehry among other.

Michael Bierut Talk At 99 Percent

Michael Bierut, partner at Pentagram, has been a long influence in the world of graphic design and one of my personal favorites in my list of graphic designers. This time he talks about how his ideas come about and get brought together to complete the project. Listen to his presentation from The 99 Percent conference last year where he discusses 5 Secrets from 86 Notebooks. The information is informative and insightful. Enjoy.

Michael Bierut Talks To AIGA - Philly

Enjoy this video made by the AIGA - Philadelphia Chapter from a visit by Michael Bierut discussing design's status in the world.

Michael Bierut - Notebooks and T-Squares

Michael Bierut, partner at Pentagram and Design Observer editor, has written about 26 years of keeping notebooks. Over the years he has amassed 85 National Blank Book Company composition books. Read about it here.

I feel that all designers need to come up with a system to keep track of ideas and notes. I have been using Moleskines myself for the last several years and can't imagine leaving home without it. I use the 3.5" x 5.5" plain sketchbook version. The books are extremely well made and durable over time. My books are full of things I think would be great concepts (sometimes looking back they turn out not to be that great), books I see that I would like to pick up, sketches of ideas, websites that get my juices flowing, notes from client meetings, notes to remind me of what I should have or need to do, miscellaneous phone numbers or addresses, etc. Get yourself a system and use it, be it a National Blank Book Company composition book, a Moleskine or a sketchbook. You will find it illuminating with time. To see a collection of artist's sketchbooks check out this site. My friend Mike Tracy can also be found over at this link with his sketchbooks.
(photo via Chester Higgins Jr/New York Times)
Michael also has an article in the New York Times this last weekend talking about how design has changed from his early days of using a T-Square to get the work done until today's digital age. Read about it here.

Fonts Today

There is a great video and two articles in The Atlantic, January 2008 issue on fonts and typography. The first article, Playing to Type by Virginia Postrel, discusses the use of fonts today and type design. It offers a great background on typography in the digital age.

The second article, What’s in a Font? is an interview with Gary Hustwit, the director of Helvetica, about his making of the documentary on the font. The interview gives some background into how and why this film was produced.

The video, Fine Print presents comments on typography by Michael Bierut of Pentagram. The video is well produced, talks about the use of fonts and gives insights into the choice of fonts for Michael’s recent book, Seventy-Nine Short Essays.

Great Reads and a View for 2008

We all want to get the year started off on a good foot so I have a few suggestions to get the passion moving in your blood. My top three picks are:
Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut;
How to Think Like a Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman;
Helvetica - the film by Gary Hustwit

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut is an assortment of his writings over the past few years. Michael is one of the founders of the wonderful design blog, The Design Observer and a partner at Pentagram. His book is composed of many of the essays he has written for the blog. The great part about this publication is the insight Michael gives us on our profession. The 79 essays cover Michael’s observations on history, design and other, politics, design criticism and social commentary. Once you pick up the book, you will find yourself carrying it around, trying to find a few minutes in the day where you can read the next essay.

How to Think Like a Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman is a collection of interviews of some the great designers of our profession including Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, Stefan Sagmeister, Chip Kidd and Massimo Vignelli. Each interview gives you a glimpse about each designer, from how he or she got started years ago, to what’s important to them, and how he or she works. The questions are insightful and thoughtful. Debbie is the hosts of the Internet radio show Design Matters with Debbie Millman on the Voice America Business Network and a partner at Sterling Brands in NYC.

Gary Hustwit actually pulled off a documentary film based on a font. Helvetica is a history of how the font was created and its huge impact and use since its design in the 50s. The film interviews many innovative designers from around the world about Helvetica and shows how we use it everyday. The film is well paced, has a great sound track and is a great history lesson of our design world.

Get your passion going, may your new year be full of great designs and be happy and safe.