Michael Bierut – 79 Short Essays on Design

I seem to be forming a theme for myself, the use of quotes. So this time lets just let Bierut’s words speak for themselves:

65, I am a Plagiarist:

“The challenge is even more pronounced in design, where we manipulate more generalized visual forms rather than specific sequences of words.”

46, I Hate ITC Garamond:

“Typefaces, on the other hand, seem to work the other way: they are enthusiastically embraced on arrival, and then they wear out their welcome.”

31, Information Design and the Placebo Effect:

“Every behavioral scientists knows that if you reward the rats every time, they take it for granted; if you never reward them, they give up. The most effective approach is to reward them every once in a while. This principle of intermittent reward is well understood by casino owners.”

4, How to Become Famous:

“…because I feel that becoming famous isn’t really all that difficult. Most kinds of fame are based, to a certain extent, on individual merit. But there are a lot of trivial things involved as well. These have to do with things like speeches and competitions. You can only do so much with the talent you are born with. On the other hand, these trivial things are sometimes amusingly easy to manipulate. But remember, there’s no guarantee that being famous counts for anything.”

“Word that communicates effectively and solves marketing problems for actual clients will make you rich, not famous, and consequently is not discussed here.”

“Reluctance to develop a surefire fallback position will only mean that you will waste a lot of time trying to invent exciting new solutions that probably don’t exist for problems that probably don’t deserve them.”

Sounds like I should never use ITC Garamond, avoid my photographic memory, reward rats intermittently, and manipulate trivial speeches and competitions. Got it.