Michael Bierut’s 79 short essays are charming, informative and wise. I think that his essay about “How to Become Famous,” is hilarious, but most likely, very close to the truth. He give short and simple examples of what to do to be a “famous” graphic designer. It is reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen” , turning topics like “How to Win Graphic Design Competitions,” into short introductory sentences like “Enter only the kind of pieces that win in design competitions.” This common sense/obnoxious statement is actually completely true. We often need to step away from our work and make sure that it serving it’s purpose. If you want to create something for a competition, make it appealing to a judge. If you want to create work for a client, make it appealing to the correct audience. NO BRAINER! But we miss that mark so many times before we get it right, time after time. My favorite piece of advice that Bierut shares in his “How to Become Famous” essay is in the section about “How to Do Great Design Work.” He says to simply “Do lots of work.” I whole heartedly agree with this statement. As a developing designer, I realize that the more design projects I do that are unnecessary, the more inspiration I bring to to my necessary work. If I take a moment to make a custom card or a silly poster for a friend, I bring that creative energy and joy to a strategic concept.
Bierut’s essay entitled “I am a Plagiarist,” makes me question my habits of looking at other people’s design work. I used to think that the more good design that you absorb, the better you are at understanding your own aesthetic and how to make strong design choices. Now I am noticing that studying others has its cost. With every inspiration to take from others, you begin to start closing your window of originality that you bring to a project. There are only so many ideas that will rise to the top in a creative project, and often times we can let other’s ideas over shadow our own. I’m not saying that I feel my work is plagiarism, but I hope to start considering how I concept ideas, taking steps to do some raw brainstorming before I begin researching and “stealing” inspiration from those I admire.
Just some thoughts.