149 Section Two Chapter Eight Social Innovation Mark Randall The Citizen Designer Mark Randall is the founder of Worldstudio. In the seventh-grade, with a friend, he published a Star Trek fanzine called Star Charting, using a typewriter and the photocopy machine in his dad’s engineering office. The boys were drawn to the show’s positive social message as well as the cool spaceships, aliens, and adventure. “This was my only introduction to graphic design until I went to college, where I discovered that it could be a career,” he recalls. The combination of strategy and structure around the communication of an idea, all within an artistically creative context, appealed to Randall. “The inclusiveness, optimism, and social messages that were contained in Star Trek sparked in me a desire to contribute to a posi- tive future.” In the mid-nineties, these two interests came together with the launch of Worldstudio, a strategy and communication’s firm that uses the power of creativity to impact positive social change. Randall and his business partner at the time, David Sterling, wanted a studio that addressed social issues on a daily basis, utilizing the skills they have as graphic designers. Logo for Worldstudio Worldstudio is a unique business of tax requirements, we needed two Foundation’s Signature Program: model. So much of your work is in organizations—but in the end, we Design Ignites Change. the area of social good. Please explain think of them as one, just Worldstudio. Designer: Worldstudio how this works. Our goal was to create a studio that not Worldstudio, Inc. works like most only served clients but [was] one that traditional graphic design firms that would give us a platform to develop offer client services, but our focus is on our own self-generated projects and the nonprofit and civic realm. Working programs around the social issues in this area supports our mission of in which we were interested. There using design to impact positive social are two parts to the organization: change. We work on a wide range of Worldstudio, Inc., the for-profit side, projects from branding, interactive, and Worldstudio Foundation, which and collateral to packaging and envi- is nonprofit. We actually started the ronmental graphics. This side of the foundation first and then launched the business pays my rent and allows me design studio two years later. Because to buy tickets to the most recent Star Trek movie.
150 Identity and Package Design Why did you launch a foundation? large. Our initiatives have ranged for a Socially Minded Tea What was your aim and goal? from scholarship programs, profes- Company That Focuses on We established Worldstudio Foundation sional fellowships, and grant making the Triple Bottom Line: as a tax-exempt, 501c3 organization to educational opportunities, which Profit, People, Planet to create the social initiatives that we include mentoring programs for high Designer: Worldstudio wanted to develop. We needed the tax school students and social design Photographer: Mark Randall benefits of being a nonprofit so that we workshops and intensives for college could accept donations and receive grant students and creative professionals. money from our partners, which is how We have created a number of high- we fund these initiatives. visibility public art and design projects, which unite communities around We believe that creativity holds compelling social themes. enormous power for positive social change. Through the work of the How much of what you do is Foundation, we focus our efforts on strategizing for meaningful providing inspiration and support for projects and actually designing? designers, architects, and artists who Strategizing around a meaningful proj- want to use creativity to give back to ect is the best part of my job—but, alas, their communities and the world at
151 Section Two Chapter Eight Social Innovation it is a small part. We’re a small office; 2003 Issue of Sphere on the right now it’s myself, two designers, Theme of “Tolerance” (bottom) and our foundation programs direc- Editorial and Creative Directors: tor. Everyone has to do a little bit of Mark Randall, David Sterling everything. My day-to-day responsi- Editors: Peter Hall, Emmy Kondo bilities break down in two ways: For Designer: Daniela Koenn Worldstudio, Inc., I act as art director Cover Designer: Santiago and client liaison. I usually have a Piedrafita range of disparate activities going on at the same time; because of this, I find Sphere, “Wish You Were it hard to carve out chunks of time in Here” Issue (left) which to focus on the actual process Editorial and Creative Directors: of design. But when I do, I enjoy it. Mark Randall, David Sterling When it comes to our social initiatives, Editors: Peter Hall, Emmy Kondo my role is that of a producer, develop- Designer: Sven Oberstein ing the concept, building the strategy Cover Designer: Shawn Wolfe and partnerships needed to make it happen, and then managing the project through to completion. We believe in the power of partnerships, and every- thing we do through the Foundation is very partner driven; these relationships are critical to our success. Talk about your favorite (and possi- bly most successful) project. Drawing on my vast experience as the publisher of Star Charting, our first social initiative, in 1994, was a mag- azine called Sphere, which featured articles about artists and designers who incorporated a social agenda into their work. At the time, there was little to no discussion around design and social impact in the media. We decided that a publication would be a great venue in which to explore these ideas and generate a conversation around the subject. We not only acted as the publisher, but we were the editorial and creative directors as well, bringing together teams of editors, writers, and designers for each issue. We produced seven
152 issues over nine years, and each issue and demonstrate to potential employ- was sent free to 15,000 designers ers, clients, or collaborators what we can Urban Forest Project Lightpole across the country. bring to the table. Recent graduates as and Banner Tote Bag well as midcareer designers are looking Designer: Rob Alexander That sounds quite ambitious. . . for ways in which to pursue this type Client: Jack Spade Sphere demonstrated to us that we of work. There are not many opportu- Photographer: Mark Dye could launch our own initiative and nities for designers to learn about this make it economically viable. This also emerging field, and there is no go-to gave us visibility and street-cred in list of social design jobs to apply for. the design community, which we built upon for future opportunities. I think We launched Impact! in the summer of Sphere as the foundation of our of 2010 to give people a place to start, Foundation. as well as an understanding of the field. We like to think of our program What do you look for when hiring as graduate school crammed into six someone to work at the studio or weeks. Many of our students have on specific projects? leveraged their Impact! experience For Worldstudio, Inc., a designer into a full-time social design job with excellent communication and or they have gone on to launch a typographic skills is critical. I am business or project idea they incubated not interested in just aesthetics. I get in the program. excited when I see a combination of inventive creativity—which can be very In the not-for-profit world, is it cutting-edge and contemporary—mixed possible to sustain oneself financially? with clear and compelling communi- Socially minded work is not limited to cation. I like design that is playful and the nonprofit world. There are a range fun with the right note of seriousness of opportunities out there—all of which when the message calls for it. require research and perseverance to unearth. I see them breaking down On the Foundation side, we look broadly into the following categories. for creative individuals, often who come from a background in arts You can get a job working for a administration. They don’t have to nonprofit organization. Many mid- be designers, but they must have an to-large-sized foundations have their interest in design and how it relates own in-house design departments. to social issues. This is a rare combina- Currently, foundations utilize graphic tion, but we have been lucky and have designers in the traditional way: to had great people working with us. create their communication materials. I am optimistic about a future where You not only run Worldstudio but these organizations will see the value also you direct a summer intensive, of having a designer at the table as they Impact! What is your goal here? develop the initial strategy around The profession as a whole is trying to their programming. Designers should figure it out. We need to create our be more involved in the entire process, own opportunities to work in this area not just as an add-on at the end to make things look better.
153 Section Two Chapter Eight Social Innovation Ringling Museum of Art Identity Client: John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida Designer: Worldstudio Icon designer: John Pirman Corporations have money, reach, There are successful studios that do time, ranging from 1 to10 percent, and power; many are engaged in this. Granted, it might not be as lucra- and dedicate it to pro bono work. corporate social responsibility (often tive as a client list made up of Fortune Based on a 40-hour work week, 1 referred to as CSR), recognizing that it 500 companies, but from my personal percent represents a modest 20 hours directly affects their bottom line. They perspective, working for social change per year per person, and 10 percent need designers to help them commu- trumps the money. represents 200. It is important to nicate their efforts. As with nonprofits, treat pro bono work just as you would I’d like to see a future where we are at Lastly, you can live the life of a social a paying client. Create a proposal the table from the beginning to help entrepreneur and create your own with a clearly defined scope of work, with strategy. Our skills as creative socially minded nonprofit organization outlining expectations on both sides. problem solvers can be brought to or social enterprise. This is the area that And, sign the contract! bear, and we can work from within, expands the most on what designers can as entrepreneurs, to help them make do. Design is often not the end result, I don’t believe that you should meaningful change. This may be but the skills of a designer are brought do pro bono work without getting overly optimistic—but a worthy goal! to bear on making the concept reality. something in return: deep personal satisfaction, an opportunity to learn Government desperately needs good Is there a business model for being a new skill, introductions to a new design. This is an area full of opportu- a “pro bono” designer? community, or a great piece for your nity, as it gives designers a chance to I have mixed feelings about pro bono portfolio that you can leverage for work on projects that impact the lives work. We should get paid for the future opportunities. I allocate my of millions of people. Right now it is work we do, even if the work is socially pro bono services to my own efforts an uphill battle but I believe one that motivated. Pro bono is not sustainable through the Foundation, and I can is worth waging. if you want to engage in this type of easily say that I get a return on this work over the long term. investment from all of the benefits If you want to start your own design I just outlined. firm, you can create a client base from One business model that is often a segment or mix of all of the above. cited is to take a percentage of your
154 Bob McKinnon is president of GALEWiLL Design. One hundred percent of their work addresses social issues, Bob McKinnon ranging from childhood obesity to climate change. He has led teams that have redesigned the food stamp Socially Impactful Design program for the state of California, transformed the way we talk about social factors and health for the Invisible Dream Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and created new Client: GALEWiLL Center ways for youth to stay above the influence for the White for Opportunity & Progress House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has Studio: GALEWiLL Design also partnered with leading organizations such as the Designers: Bob Mckinnon, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Tyler Mintz Disease Control and Prevention, Sesame Workshop, and The William J. Clinton Foundation, among many others, to help millions overcome obstacles on their way to a healthier and happier life. His book Actions Speak Loud- est: Keeping Our Promise for a Better World is but one of the ways he has spread the message of social innovation. What is your definition of What is different in today’s design social innovation in today’s world than 10 years earlier regarding design scheme? design for social good? I see social innovation as anything Ten years ago, design for social good we create or design that can move was less an explicit goal and more of the world forward. It can be for an implicit choice. Even then, within one person, one community, or the almost any design choice we make, we entire planet. “Does this make some- could either move the world forward one’s life better?” is a simple ques- or set it back—in ways imperceptible tion we should always ask ourselves or grand. Today things are much more when designing anything. If the open and accessible. There are more answer is “no,” we should respond opportunities to explicitly focus on by wondering whether we should be this kind of work. Firms such as ours doing it at all. If the answer is “yes,” do 100 percent social change work. then we should think about how Others open up smaller practices to get this out to more people who within larger organizations. Platforms could benefit by it. and tools come on the scene that promote social entrepreneurship and
155 Section Two Chapter Eight Social Innovation make it more attractive. The explosion tribute who is passionate about that Redesigning California’s of opportunities in this space has been cause, then this can be a match made Food Stamp Program incredible and much welcomed. in heaven. Client: California Department of Social Services How should designers get involved But, alternatively, if you have Studio: GALEWiLL Design with public welfare projects? large organizations with significant Designers: Bob Mckinnon, In some ways, we create a false choice resources that are trying to tackle Jennifer Kaye when we position public welfare proj- critical issues, then they should pay ects vs. commercial projects. Every- for expertise. This is no different than money don’t have to be mutually thing we design has the potential for what you would do if you were hiring exclusive pursuits. social impact, regardless of whether it’s an engineer or architect to build your designing for a public cause or making headquarters, an accountant to do What should a designer do to make better choices for a company. your finances, or a lawyer to manage a viable project? your legal issues. Design for good Start by designing for one. We can Practically speaking, there are more shouldn’t be charity work, unless it fall into the trap of “I want to change entries into this space than ever before. absolutely has to be. the world” and forget that this still You could tackle a cause you believe happens at the individual level. What in on your own, volunteer for a small How are social impact jobs solicited does one person need to improve their nonprofit, get an advanced degree in and funded? lot in life? I love to talk to social entre- design for social impact, work for a The good news is that increasingly preneurs about their origin stories— company you believe d oes good things people are seeing the real value good what was their inspiration for getting for the world, even go into government. design can bring to a cause. It can be started. Almost without exception, There is more and more demand for the difference between whether an orga- they tell me a very simple yet instruc- people with great design skills and a nization fails or succeeds or whether tive story about how they were looking passion for making a difference. one life is saved or a million. So within to help one person. Whether that’s Sal organizations, you can begin to see the Khan whose Khan Academy began Is this still called “pro bono”—the oc- return on investment that comes with by tutoring his cousin Nadia or Adam casional free job—or have we reached good design. Braun who started Pencils of Promise the point where this kind of work is as the result of an interaction with a not the exception but the norm? More and more organizations are child while he was traveling, it always I think we’ve reached the point where making investments in this space, and starts there. If you want to change the pro bono is becoming less and less the I think there will be increased demand world, design for one. norm, and I think that’s a good thing. for talent as a result. The White House has an Office of Social Innovation and At the same time, we must remem- We pay for things we value. And Civic Participation. There are media ber that a person’s life is not a problem what is more valuable than designing outlets like Good and Fast Co-Exist for you to solve. We make the mistake something that could solve major soci- that increasingly feature design for of designing down, thinking we know etal issues and improve lives? There social good. Schools like SVA create what people need. We should design is a unique skill set that comes with stand-alone programs to meet the up, first seeing if we can be of some designing for social change. And like increasing demand. Large foundations help, asking them how and letting any other field within design, extensive and nonprofits are increasingly invest- them be the agent of their own success. experience and knowledge command ing in design for themselves and their a premium. partners. And this is to say nothing of the people who are creating viable Now, of course, if you’re a small businesses, like Tom’s Shoes, who are nonprofit with limited resources and proving that doing good and making there is a designer looking to con-
156 9 Branding and Packaging Branding is storytelling. “It’s that simple,” Brian Collins said in the previous edition. “And storytelling is always interesting because it’s driven by one question: What happens next?” That’s what consumers want to learn. It’s why they turn the page, why they enter a store, or click online—to see what happens next. The anticipation of being drawn into a new world or experience guides us all. Collins adds: “We are all in the what-happens-next business.” People lose interest, fast, when nothing inter- esting happens next. So branding people—designers and writers—evolve stories to retain the public’s interest. It is the job of advertising and design to help shape brand stories into something truthful, meaningful, and useful. When branding is done with sincerity and imagination, the outcome can be beneficial to the corporation and the individual. Design is a tangible, immediate kind of sto- rytelling because it touches people’s actual experience. “It isn’t the promise of experience—like an ad,” Collins notes. It is experience.” Design is a brand’s promise made visible, and ultimately, personal. And once an experience becomes personal, it can become a meaningful part of someone’s own story. Take the example of pirates and promise—and deposited more of one-off artifacts and creating as their skull and crossbones flags. legends and meaning into their flag. much of that broader experience That black flag—the logo—was the In fact, they were so bloodthirsty so as they can. If you are asked to pirate brand identity, and it sent an consistently that by the eighteenth design a package, for example, try unmistakable brand promise to other century, all a pirate ship had to to create such a big idea—a big ships and sailors. The flag prompted do was hoist its Jolly Roger and the story—that it could inspire the design distinct brand expectations, which if crew of the victim ship would often of a great store, an ad campaign, a you believe the movies, the pirates drop their cargo and flee.” film, an event, a game, or a series consistently delivered. “Each time of books, all based on the product they acted ruthlessly,” Collins says, Designers today are principal idea. That is the branding idea. “the pirates delivered on their brand participants in the branding business. This means going beyond the design
157 Section Two Chapter Nine Branding & Packaging Sharon Werner Approachable Design Sharon Werner created Werner Design Werks, Inc., 20 years ago in Saint Paul, Minneapolis. It’s a small branding, packaging, and design studio that handles a variety of projects for firms that range from small start- ups to larger corporations. The studio attracts clients who are personally invested but may need a bit of coaching. It also caters to large companies that understand the design process and have a very streamlined or layered approach to problem solving. With her senior designer, Sarah Forss, Werner can tackle all types of design needs, “but develop- ing the brand language for consumer products has been the core of our business for the past few years,” she says. X.ALE Wet Orange Drink Designer: Sharon Werner
158 Labrats Work Kits How are Sarah Forss, your senior broad overview and fine details of the Designers: Sharon Werner designer, and yourself are able to projects. At the end, it’s often difficult and Sara Forss share the workload so seamlessly? to remember exactly whose original Sarah and I have worked together for idea it was. How did you come to define your over 18 years. Maybe that answers field of expertise? the question best. Basically, we have Part of your philosophy is to enter This has not been a planned path, but, a process that works well for us. We into a collaborative relationship with rather, one project led to another and share most projects in the beginning clients. But that’s dangerous, isn’t it? to another. We don’t call ourselves phases. We’re open to criticism from Do you sometimes have to “crack experts in any specific category, but, each other and don’t feel overly protec- the whip” and let them know that, rather, we are observant, curious, tive of our ideas. We can see potential as far as design is concerned, you intuitive consumers and observers. opportunities or pitfalls in each are in charge? Now more than ever, This curiosity has led to projects in other’s rough sketches. clients want to be part of the process. the wine and spirits industry, fashion, Dangerous? [and] children’s and personal care At some point in the process, one Yes, definitely! But it’s a reality, or at products, to name few. of us takes the lead, and the other least it is for us. Many of our clients are becomes supportive. This can flip back financial stakeholders in the project. and forth throughout the project. We They want to see the process at mul- each grow very familiar with the
159 Section Two Chapter Nine Branding & Packaging dp Hue Shampoo and tiple points in order to protect their process, they’re more likely to be able to Conditioner Bottles investments. I can’t say I blame them. embrace the solution and find success. Designers: Sharon Werner But collaboration doesn’t always work and Sara Forss There are designers out there who smoothly. We have had to remind approach and present design as if it’s clients why they hired us. “magic” and there is only one rabbit in the hat. For us, the magic is in the You’ve kept your studio small for two design process—albeit not necessar- decades! You don’t waste time in staff ily a linear one. Solutions need to be meetings. But how do you avoid the challenged at multiple steps to make stigma of being a “mom-and-pop” sure they can hold up and stand the operation? test. We can do that ourselves, but a I’m not certain that we always avoid client should also get involved. Clients that stigma. But who cares? We have need to take ownership of the brand— successful work to show and maintain particularly small brands. They need a professional method of working. to believe in it and live it for the result It’s our feeling that if a client feels to be authentic and successful. They’re they need a larger agency with more often putting their homes or savings manpower, then they probably do on the line. If they’ve been part of the
160 need that, and we’re not a good choice our client, so that helps a little. But if fresh ink on paper wafting up, the for them. anyone has the answer to this question, smooth texture of the laminated without working 120 hours a week, I’d jacket in contrast to the toothy, text Clients have gotten considerably love to hear it. pages. That’s an experience that can’t more savvy in the past few years and be replicated with an iPad. realized that even in a larger studio, Compared with digital communica- their project is generally handled by tion, print is now a luxury that fewer As designers of print, we need to two or three people at most, although clients can afford. In which situations create those touch points within other the meetings may be propped up with do you think print makes most sense? areas of print. We need to use print three or four extra people for show! Well, obviously packaging! Yeah! I love to make an impression that involves packaging. A few years ago, everyone all the senses. We need to create You create, manage, and package touted the fact that websites created experiences, whether it’s opening your clients’ brand image, but how THE experience, which they can, but an envelope or a Hermes box. about your own brand? What do print has the potential to be as much you do to keep it vibrant? or even more experiential. Think about We have a difficult time with this. It’s cracking open a new book, the sound definitely a case of the shoemaker’s of the spine creaking, the smell of the kids having no shoes scenario. We’re attempting to launch a new web- site with a ton of new work, but it always takes a backseat to client work. However, I do believe that a successful project is as good for WDW as it is for Meyer’s Clean Day, Cleaners and Soaps Designers: Sharon Werner and Sara Forss
161 Section Two Chapter Nine Branding & Packaging Octopus, from Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types (above) AlphaSaurs and Other Prehistoric Types (left) Bugs by the Numbers (right) Published by Blue Apple Books Authors and Designers: Sharon Werner and Sara Forss
162 10 Illustration Design In previous editions of this book, illustration was ignored or downplayed as a component of an overall design. Arguably, illustration—the making of images by hand or computer in two and three dimensions—has returned with a vengeance. Or shall we say, many illustrators combine their drawing and vectoring skills with what can only be described as design. This is not a new phenomenon. letter, the drawn image, and the Graphic design was an outgrowth designed message are once of illustration. Posters were large again, one again. illustrations that incorporated type and lettering. Building on this Editorial illustration may not be foundation of the “complete work of as robust as it was, but illustration art/design,” as we call it, various for many more media and platforms designers and design firms became are pronounced. If you call yourself popular for the integration of these and illustrator, you can also be elements. Styles and methods a designer. If you call yourself a were often recycled. While a few designer, you can still illustrate. This decades ago typography was its may be a renaissance—if only for own art form, today the illustrated the moment.
163 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Michel Bouvet The Citizen Designer Michel Bouvet is a French poster designer, in the tradition of Savignac: He is first and foremost an illustrator, whose slightly quirky sense of humor appeals to the man on the street. “My goal is to intrigue, surprise, and amuse as many people as possible,” he says. “Savignac was a master of that genre.” Bouvet, who is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale since 1997, is one of the last proponents of The Conceptal Image. His clients are, for the most part, cultural institutions such as the- aters, festivals, and museums, but he is also a prolific and tireless curator of special events promoting graphic design, illustration, and artists’ books. Poster for Mélodrame(s)!, Today, you are one of the best-known d’Arles photography festival to shed its La Pépinière Theater poster designers in France. You can elitist image. The event was losing its Art Director/Designer: juggle visual concepts like no one appeal and needed a shot in the arm. I Michel Bouvet else. Why do you think that your style decided to inject color and controversy 2013 has such visual appeal? into the campaign—and illustrations Like Savignac, I try to express things allowed me to do both. simply, directly, in a way that is instantly understandable by everyone. I put my How did you convince your clients talent at the service of the message or that it was the right choice? the event I am supposed to promote— The president of the festival at the time but, more importantly, I put my talent was a visionary man who had been at the service of the public. in charge of the Pompidou Center. He liked my radical approach. His director Your most popular campaign is for was equally supportive. Together, they the Rencontres d’Arles—an interna- should be credited for turning what was tional photography event that you a losing proposition into a huge success. promote with posters featuring bold illustrations! Illustrations? Why this The posters you designed are counterintuitive choice? reminiscent of Pop Art. Why? I’ve got nothing against photography The simplicity of the image was import- —a medium I use from time to time— ant, but also the subject matter had but I figured that illustrations would to have a universal appeal. I used bold be more provocative. My mandate strokes and bright silkscreened colors, was to avoid at all cost an overly à la Roy Lichtenstein. I even added the sophisticated approach. We wanted the suggestion of a dot pattern.
164 The posters represent animals or things that are totally incongruous. Not so incongruous: The fruit and veg- etable make reference to the still-life style so popular in artistic photog- raphy, while the portraits of animals are spoofing formal portraiture. It’s a little far-fetched, I admit, but it works. And the images are popular with the 100,000 visitors each year who come to the festival and buy licensed prod- ucts like T-shirts, mugs, notebooks, bags, and badges, all stamped with my bold drawings. What role does absurdity play in completely unsung. I have been to poor Poster for Hamlet, your creative process? countries: Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Les Gémeaux Theater (Left) Since a young age, I have been mes- Albania, and Cuba, just to name a few. Art Director/Designer: Michel Bouvet merized by fine art, paintings in par- There I saw posters that took my breath Photographer: F. Lahazzague ticular. But I was also reading books all away. I decided to create events to fea- 2014 the time. Both art forms were for me ture the production of those neglected a way to escape into strange lands and designers, along with that of their bet- Poster for Othello, discover unexpected things. Today, ter-known colleagues. I like to combine Les Gémeaux Theater (right) my challenge as an illustrator and a graphic design with geopolitics. Art Director/Designer: Michel Bouvet graphic designer is to use familiar and Photographer: F. Lahazzague easily recognizable images to evoke In your own graphic design practice, 2011 weird, uncanny, and sometimes absurd you seem to make very little use of dig- situations. But that’s just it: Poster ital technologies. Yet you are prosper- designers are people who can break ous. Do you think that, in the future, and bend rules to transform commer- people like you will be the exception? cial messages into magical images. Believe me, I am stuck in front of my screen all day long, even though my You are also a prolific curator of work doesn’t look like it was gener- shows and events on the theme of ated by a string of codes. Some of my graphic design. You are a tireless posters—for the Gémeaux Theater in and passionate communicator. What particular—are photographic images motivates you? that have been manipulated digitally. I want to give back what I have Technology is magical, but it’s only received: I have been invited all over a tool. In that sense, we are all in the the world to show my posters, a same boat. process that had been humbling in some way. The graphic designers I would meet on those trips were often exceptional artists whose work was
165 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Poster for the Photography Festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles Art Director/Designer: Michel Bouvet 2003
166 Mirko Ilic Mirko Ilic was born in Bosnia. In Europe, he drew comics and illustrations, and art-directed posters, books, and Design Is Like Classical Ballet record covers. When he arrived in the United States, he became the art director of Time magazine International Canada Edition and later art director of the Op-Ed pages of The Client: Time International New York Times. He got his first Mac in 1991 and soon Art Director: Rudolph Hoglund afterward was creating illustrations with it, for publications Illustrator: Mirko Ilic such as Time magazine. By 1995, he had established June 18, 1990 his own firm, Mirko Ilic Corp. In the course of his career, he has received countless awards: from the Society of Illustrators, Society of Publication Designers, the Art Directors Club, I.D. magazine, Print magazine, Graphis, the Society of Newspaper Design, and others. But that’s not all: Ilic is the coauthor of several books with Steven Heller, including Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design, Handwritten, and The Anatomy of Design, Stop Think Go Do, and Lettering Large. With Milton Glaser he coauthored The Design of Dissent. He teaches in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts. You’ve transitioned two times, from I wanted to try things. When I got pen-and-ink illustrator to digital my first computer, in 1991, the first illustrator and from illustrator to illustration I managed to produce in graphic designer. How difficult was Illustrator was published in Time it to make these transitions? magazine. [The] first illustration I Actually, there were a few more transi- managed to produce in Photoshop tions. I was constantly trying to change was the cover of Time magazine. styles in order not to draw in exactly the same way, time after time. A few Did your clients know who they years later, I became a designer work- were getting at any given time? ing closely with photographers, an I just mentioned my first illustration experience that turned out to be very created in Adobe Illustrator and my useful later, when working in computer first cover created in Adobe Photo- 3-D, with camera angles, width of lens, shop. In those instances, I was quite lighting, all that stuff. Transitions for lucky because I was my own art me were quite smooth. I was curious; director, and as a client, I didn’t give
167 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Not Much Has Changed in a System That Failed Client: The New York Times Art Director: Tom Bodkin Illustrator: Mirko Ilic September 8, 2002 Knowledge at a Higher Price Client: Start no.293 Designer: Mirko Ilic 1980
168 myself a hard time. Most of my clients see diversity in my portfolio, and so they expect diversity, unless, of course, they specifically tell me they would like a certain look. Did you have to market and sell your- self differently to fit different needs? Yes, the better known you are as an illustrator with a certain style, the harder it is to change directions. Big ships require much more time and energy to turn around. Is this a field for specialists or generalists? Things go both ways. When the economy is not doing well, if you are an established specialist, you are going to do fine. But if you are an up- and-coming designer or illustrator, you are better off being a generalist. You must take whatever you can get. Do you integrate your illustration with your typography? Whenever it is needed. It is not my primary goal. Sometimes it just works out that way. What is the best part of being an illustrator? As an illustrator you can play much more than as a designer. Of course, it depends on what kind of illustrator you are. Playing with forms, colors, shapes, techniques is a little bit closer to our perception of artists from the The A.D.L. Under Fire Client: The New York Times, Op-Ed Illustrator: Mirko Ilic May 28, 1993
169 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design past. That is probably why they are still calling that artwork. What is the best thing about being a designer? Being a designer is much more restric- tive than being an illustrator. What is the medium—electronic or print? If it is print, is it a poster, a book, a business card? Each piece of the puzzle has a different set of rules: the text, the logos, the photographs, or the artwork fur- nished by the client. How many colors? And what about the special effects? Are you embossing, varnishing? All that depends on the clients and their budget. Only when you have all these elements, when you know under which conditions they can be used, when you understand who your target audience is, can you start thinking about design. And that is when the best part begins. It’s like classical ballet: known compo- sition, strict limitation of motion, but it can still be beautiful and inspiring. SVA To Help See Possibilities Client: The School of Visual Arts Creative Director: Anthony Rhodes Art Director: Michael Walsh Designer: Mirko Ilic Illustrator: Mirko Ilic Corp. 2008
170 Steve Brodner Graphic Commentary and Design Steve Brodner is an illustrator and caricaturist. “But I think you can say that I am a storyteller,” he notes. To tell stories, he depicts popular icons because “that’s an effective way to get points across.” He claims to be at the nexus of a tradition of print parody and the world of hypocrisy and pain. During 1979–1982, he published his own journal, the New York Illustrated News. In 1981, he became a regular contributor to Harper’s magazine with the monthly feature, “Ars Politica.” He has also contributed to The National Lampoon, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Spy, and Esquire (as an unofficial house artist). He began doing portrait caricature, art journalism, and a back-page political cartoon, “Adversaria.” This all served to convince him that illustration was an important part of the mix of any journalistic enterprise. His work appears today in The New Yorker and elsewhere. Does art echo life or change it? Your work tells stories. What stories more democratic; it is flatter. If you start I think the answer is yes. do you tell? a comic blog, it’s possible someone will Illustrator: Steven Brodner My work is sensitive to current affairs. see it and give you a publication oppor- It tries to get behind news and exam- tunity. If I post something on my site, an ining who’s involved and what makes opposing political group may organize them tick. Portraiture employs insight, 100 people to flood it with comments, which drawing, painting, writing can many of which I couldn’t quote here. sharpen. The very act of rendering If I do a piece for a publication, that forces more precise examination. piece may be put on Facebook by the art director to show the world what he is How do you see illustration surviving doing. And then I get to see how many in this era of democratic technologies? people “like” it. There is much more to The thing is to understand that the old be attentive to, but it is very easy to lose rules are being radically revised. In the track of what’s important. distant past (15 years ago), there were just a few big media venues that deter- You make videos. Does this mean mined how we saw things and how we you’ve adapted well to the new expressed reactions. Now the big ones technologies? have been shattered into many smaller Videos are an interesting aspect of the pieces. You’re right, the media world is Web. Who would have thought that
171 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Obamaloon Client: National Journal Jan Zimmeck CD Editor: Ron Brownstein Illustrator: Steven Brodner
172 computers would make posting and watching video as easy as writing a Post-it note? But making a video is still extremely time-consuming. Unless you have a handle on how much time will be involved and how much you can afford to give it, it could consume you! I made video shorts for a few years and came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be a major component of my work. Can illustration be a separate field any longer? I think it has always been a collabo- rative art. That will continue. What we call it may change. What doesn’t change is that people are driven to communicate with each other. They are delighted when that communica- tion can be done with art. People are
173 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design going to keep figuring out how to stay engaged and entertained, and will be willing for pay for some of it. What must an illustrator know now to succeed? An artist must be free, first of all, to be true to him/herself. Know what you love and in what neck of the creative woods you want to spend your time working. Second, find your markets. See who’s working and for whom. Target your work, promotion, and pitches so that people are seeing a comfortable person with ideas, very available to be even more brilliant. Third, know that you are an author. Always be working on a project that has a real shot of getting people interested in it and will also reinforce your (I hate the word but here it goes) “brand.” This is nothing more than an association of content and form with yourself. Make sure it’s real and you will be fine. What do you look for in a solid illus- trator? Is it more than art or craft? Thinking, drawing, imagining, selling. Illustration will honor those people who can combine talents, skills. They will always land on their feet, coming up with a new, great thing. The Mad Men of Climate Change Bill Clinton Woos the (opposite top) Democratic Convention The American Prospect The Nation Creative Director, Designer: Illustrator: Steven Brodner Mary Parsons 2012. 2013 Ron Paul, Hero of Israel (opposite bottom) The Nation 2012
174 Steven Guarnaccia The Old New Illustration Like most illustrators today, Brooklyn-based Steven Guarnaccia is a hyphenate: an illustrator-educator-writer- designer–kid’s book author/illustrator. He illustrates children’s books and [does illustration] for magazines and newspapers. He is a full-time faculty member at Parsons, where he was the illustration program director. He writes regularly for the illy coffee company blog. He is currently designing wine and olive oil labels for a small producer in Italy. And he is always working on his next children’s book. Cinderella: A Fashionable Tale was published by Corraini Editions and Abrams in 2013. Cinderella: A Fashionable Tale You’ve been an illustrator for over sure I ever fit very comfortably into it. Editors: Marszia Corraini, three decades, but your work is very When I was in college, Milton Glaser’s Howard Reeves youthful. What is it about your style seminal book, Graphic Design, had just Designer: Maurizio Corrraini or method that stays on the curve been published. It was called Graphic Publisher: Abrams rather than behind it? Design but it was filled with illustrations, 2013 First, I’m restless. I’m very distractible, typeface designs, toy designs, a design and I constantly need new stimuli. for a cocktail. My parents really didn’t I ravenously trawl for old books and understand what it was I wanted to unfamiliar visual imagery in the online do. I showed them that book and said, and analog worlds. I’ve also never “This is who I want to be.” felt particularly virtuosic in any one medium, technique, or style. I didn’t Having started out as an editorial go to art school; I’m pretty much illustrator, do you believe it is a self-taught. So I try a lot of new sustainable career? things. These days I’m painting on There’s wonderful work being published old pieces of wood. in magazines and newspapers— both ink on paper and online. But I real- You define yourself as an illustrator, ized early on, quite some time before but you are also a designer—maybe the so-called decline of illustration, not of books or magazines, but of that it wasn’t going to be fulfilling things where you can apply your art to me for very long to plug holes in and lettering. What prompted you to text columns in magazines with my break out of the illustration mold? drawings. At a certain point, I wanted I don’t know that I ever broke out of to initiate the word-image conversation the illustration mold. Rather, I’m not rather than just respond to it.
175 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Busy Bust City Street You’ve created products galore: ties, for GQ, and the company contacted Design Director: Denise Cronin pencils, textiles, clocks, etc. How did me to design a line of ties. I think the Designer: Steven Guarnaccia you enter this field of objects? illustrator-designed product was a new Illustrator: Steven Guarnaccia First, I had already started making and exciting area for me and others. It Publisher: Viking one-of-a-kind objects, often painting certainly helped expand the definition on something that already existed— of what an illustrator does. a lobster buoy, a salad bowl, a piece of doll’s house furniture—vas a break Were you to start over, would you from my full schedule as an editorial follow the same route? illustrator. The impulse to make some- The world of illustration today is very thing that had form and a reason of its different than it was when I entered it. own for existing was very strong. I had So I don’t know if a route similar to written about my collection of Rooster the one I took even exists anymore. I brand ties from the fifties and sixties would, however, probably make more
176 personal work, one-of-a-kind work, from the beginning, rather than wait as long as I did. Is digital media part of your creative, professional life? Only when I research something online, either specifically for a job, or for general creative inspiration. And I deliver much of my work digitally. What do you advise that illustrators do to have a viable career? I’ve always felt that having ideas is more important than having talent. I tell young illustrators to pursue what interests them most, what they’re passionate about, and to initiate proj- ects from the start. I teach a zine class, and I encourage young illustrators to self-publish, to get their work into the world directly, without the filter of the editors and publishers. Brogue Painted Found Shoe ’L LAC/Wine Label Designer: Steven Guarnaccia Art Director: Simone Barlottini 2013
177 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Buzz Saw Painted Found Saw Berlin Guitar Painted Found Ukulele
178 Neil Gower Fraudulent Graphic Designer Neil Gower from Newport, South Wales, UK, calls himself a freelance graphic artist, not a graphic designer. And why not? He studied at Ravensbourne and Brighton Schools of Art, graduating in 1984, and works in a range of disciplines, from book jackets to magazine covers, illustrated maps, and garden plans. Within each of these, he employs a wide range of graphic styles, but the single factor that unifies all of his work “is an exploration of the interplay between images and words.” He produces all of his images by hand, using traditional media, but says he “delights in the modern technology that allows him to communicate with and supply his work to clients in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.” Pigtopia You have said you don’t think of You appear to have a variety of Client: Faber & Faber yourself as a graphic designer. What styles. Is style important to you? Illustrator: Neil Gower else would you call combining image I have a magpie approach to style, Art Director: Shona Andrew and letter? which I hope transcends mere imi- 2005 I feel something of a fraud calling tation. I like to create designs that myself a graphic designer. I imagine take elements from several disparate graphic design “proper” to involve far sources and combine them to form more discipline and complexity than something surprising that is more what I do, which feels essentially like than the sum of its parts. The way having fun with words and paint. I that different techniques, styles, and often feel as if I do paintings of graphic letterforms can be folded together design. Maybe that extra degree of to elicit a particular response from detachment is my way of dealing with the viewer is something that one can the “impostor syndrome” that most never stop learning about. I have a vast creative people feel. collection of ephemera, which I turn to for inspiration, including countless old My work is too illustrative to be atlases, maps, and guidebooks—and graphic design, yet it is too graphic to even 120 espresso cups, each of which be pure illustration. And, as my degree is a typographic jewel. was in illustration rather than graphics, I feel that disqualifies me from display- Underlying this approach are ing the brass plaque, as it were! three concerns: firstly, a fear of being
179 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Appointment In Samarra typecast and of being a “flavor of the exhaustive preparatory sketches and, Client: Penguin Classics month.” Secondly, that impostor’s fear in the case of book jackets, reading. I Deluxe Editions of being caught out—I figure a moving would love to respond more sponta- Illustrator/Designer: target is always harder to hit. Third, neously to a brief and to count on a Neil Gower and most important, is the need to last-minute flash of genius, but that Art Director: Paul Buckley avoid complacency: I have to keep just isn’t me. My ideas have to develop 2012 scaring, surprising, and reinventing slowly, percolating through page upon myself in order to keep things interest- page of notes and thumbnail sketches. ing and fresh. These apparently repetitious thumb- nails are helpful, as their inevitable How would you categorize your subtle differences allow one to judge manner or method? Is it conceptual, nuances of scale and line within formal, or what? the frame. “Formal” and “rigorous” are the first words that spring to mind, involving There can be a conceptual element to what I do, to the extent that illustra-
180 tion need not be literal depiction. as what he/she does say. One then has Do you work alone or with others, For example, when putting together to respond by devising a solution that like interns or apprentices? my 50th anniversary cover design meets all the client’s requirements I work alone. I’m often asked if I could for Lord of the Flies, I was asked to whilst allowing you to express yourself use an assistant/apprentice but, as clients avoid the hackneyed imagery of fully, which will ultimately give them pay for my brushstrokes and lettering, broken spectacles, conch shells, pigs’ a wow moment. It’s also worth bearing I’ve never seen how it could work. The heads and so on. I chose to devise in mind that the person briefing you is best analogy I can offer is that of an something based on ancient Aborigi- taking quite a leap of faith and spend- actor getting someone else to act in the nal/Oceanic art because that immedi- ing considerable amounts of money easier scenes, which would be patently ately conveyed a sense of the atavism for which he/she is answerable. absurd. When students contact me for explored in the book and also hinted advice, I am always careful to respond, at the exotic location. It was also Are you happy with what you do? but I’d like to engage more with young very visually striking and ultimately I suppose I can say I’ve gotten there if people starting out in the profession, sang out from the bookstore shelves. “there” is still working and occasionally and I’m hoping to find opportunities receiving prestigious commissions. to talk more often at colleges and so on. Underlying this, however, is not satis- faction that the phone is still ringing Do you see illustrating and lettering after 30 years, but the continuing fear as being a viable future? that I’ll be caught out and it will stop Absolutely, provided, that is, that one ringing in a few weeks. Those presti- remains sufficiently flexible and alert to gious commissions STILL bring with changing technologies and media. As them the sense that there’s been some long as people need to communicate— kind of error and that this lovely, cov- and they seem to have an increasing eted project is now somehow tainted desire and need to do so—there will by my involvement. be a need for images and words crafted by professionals to help them do so. What have been your goals? How have you pursued them? And have you gotten there? I always wanted to be a “commercial artist.” I love the discipline imposed by the limitations of a brief, and developing the skill of responding to a brief is as important as improving on one’s drawing. Often, what a client DOESN’T say can be as telling
181 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design VivaLewes (opposite and above) Client: Arts Listing Magazine in Lewes, Sussex Illustrator/Designer: Neil Gower One Summer Client: Doubleday UK Illustrator: Neil Gower Art Director: Claiare Ward 2013
182 Craig Frazier, from Mill Valley, California, started as an illustrator/designer in 1978. In 1995, he focused Craig Frazier exclusively on illustration and is commissioned by national and international design firms, advertising Designing Pictures agencies, and publications to create distinct illustrations. “I think of myself as an illustrator who brings a designer’s Listairs, Personal expertise to his work—and a designer who can draw,” Illustrator: Craig Frazier he says. A frequent contributor to The New York Times 2013 as well as business publications like Time magazine, Fortune, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal, Frazier also collaborates with design firms and ad agencies to promote and brand major corporations. Among those companies are Adobe, American Express, Boeing, Chevrolet, Deloitte, MasterCard, Navigant, The Royal Mail, the U.S. Postal Service, and United Airlines. He has created seven postage stamps, including the 2006 Love stamp and the 2010 and 2012 commemorative Scouting stamps. He has published a monograph, titled The Illustrated Voice (Graphis Press, 2003) and 11 children’s books. What triggered your foray into Who are the influences in your illustration? work? Do I see a bit of the German Though I love design, the practice of Expressionists and Sachplakat too? running a design studio is relatively I think that since my DNA is [that of] inhibiting to personal expression a designer, I am drawn to the poster as compared to illustration. Illustration influence simply because of its inten- requires many of the same problem- tion to create a singular message. I am solving skills that I practiced in design influenced by Sachplakat primarily for —but permits, (and demands) a level its boldness and simplicity. The idea of of subjectivity and style that is absent the representation of elements in graphic in design. As a designer, I was creating terms never goes out of style, especially in design solutions that gave away the these visually polluted times. As an illus- primary visuals to other illustrators trator, I am probably most influenced by and photographers. I wanted some some of the great conceptual illustrators of that fun for myself. The other simple and designers like Paul Rand, Ivan Cher- fact is that I like to draw, and that was mayeff, Guy Billout, Christoph Neimann, not getting nurtured as a designer. Luba Lukova, and Shigeo Fukuda.
183 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design Stanleyfish, Stanley Goes Fishing Do you work alone? Can you give me an example of Illustrator: Craig Frazier I do all my illustration and production how the “idea” comes to you? Is 2006 alone, and I have an assistant who runs there a sketch process? the day-to-day operation of the studio. For me, ideas come in the form of answers to the problem. I sketch a lot, In fact, how do you work? Is the very small, looking for a compelling computer a primary tool for you? visual that asks the viewer to get I’m a big sketcher and work almost involved. I don’t think “what does exclusively with a Micron .01 pen in this look like?” Instead I think in Moleskines or on vellum. I then cut terms of “what does this say?” This my illustrations out of Amberlith, scan approach tends to lead me down [them] into the computer, and color in roads that make for surprises and odd Photoshop. Start analog; finish digital. juxtapositions in reality. Sometimes
184 I can sketch immediately what my mind sees, and it becomes one of those satisfying solutions. However, most of the time, I am trying to get down a lot of little visual notions that drive me toward a solution. I’m looking for some cross-pollination or collision of notions that measure up to a new idea. You can’t get there without squeezing it out, pure and simple. You’ve engaged in many entrepreneurial projects. Is this necessary for sanity or security? I suppose this is the benefit of being a designer first. I am interested in thematic work, like books, websites, and series. I recognize that the world of an illustrator has a certain limitation because the work typically grows out of a client-driven context. I feel it is my responsibility to try new things and put some of that work out for consumption if I want to grow my business. For example, I built a series of animations as an experiment and ended up getting viable animation assignments. My first kid’s book grew out of one of those animations. That being said, I have dozens of personal projects in progress that will never be anything more than “satisfying practice.” What do you look for in other artistic qualities that I could relate Late for the Sky (above) artists’ work? to and easily aspire to. Both of them Navigant Consulting I look for the same thing I want touched me in very simple and sincere Illustrator: Craig Frazier my work to aspire to. I want to be terms. That’s good work. 2009 surprised, inspired, consumed—and a certain measure of envy. I want to Spikeclimbing (opposite) see work that makes me want to up Personal my own game. In the same week, I Illustrator: Craig Frazier saw the Hockney show and the movie 2012 Nebraska and both inspired me in similar and different ways. Both had
185 Section Two Chapter Ten Illustration Design
186 Transitional The introduction of digital media was, Design for many graphic designers, a major disruption of geological proportions. While some reaffirmed their allegiance to printed matter, considering that the new technologies were nothing more than advanced production tools, others, driven by curiosity, chose the path of experimentation. But there were no signposts along the way. Words had to be crafted to describe choices and options. Transmedia projects. Creative ambidexterity. Data visualization. Integrated thinking. Experience Design. The new jargon did nothing to explain what was happening. The first graphic designers who ventured outside the boundaries of the known analog realm were speaking in tongues!
187 However, their work was quite How do you break in? By having sensational. If they had trouble naming a passion and doing something what they did, the results spoke about it, whether it is claymation for themselves. Even though their or bookbinding, prototyping or practice was “transitional” (another broadcasting, information graphics word that doesn’t say much), these or wayfinding. Develop projects that designers won big awards, were demonstrate how you approach the invited to participate in juries, topic of your choice. Bring a product spoke at international conferences, or a service of your own making to made headlines, and had museum the market. Raise money for a ven- retrospectives. ture with a crowd-funding campaign. Design an app. Initiate a cycle of Today, there is a new generation conferences. Open a small gallery. of graphic designers who haven’t Make mini-documentary films. experienced this transitional phase firsthand but who have retained The measure of success in this the multidisciplinary approach space we call “transitional design” pioneered by their peers. One can is not how things look but how count on them to usher in new ideas things “work.” and unexpected practices. Most of them are self-taught and entrepre- Needless to say, no one aspires neurial in spirit. To join their ranks, to job security in this career path! As graphic designers don’t have to be the saying goes, “The ink doesn’t dry fluent in programming codes or even in the digital age.” But, as confirmed technologically proficient, but they by the next series of interviews, there must be fast learners. Critical is an is no shortage of successful people ability to hit the ground running and in this category. What these inno- get up to speed in no time at all. vators have in common is a certain amount of charisma, not because If you happen to be this type A of their personality, but because individual, the number of oppor- of their attitude—a fearless disdain tunities for employment can be for preconceived ideas. mind-boggling. You can join teams of Web designers who are exploring novel ways to navigate information and interact with it. You can find work in the field of motion graph- ics, where you will be prompted to develop your storytelling skills. You can he hired by advertising agen- cies to work, in their “lab” depart- ment, where researchers explore new media options and concoct alternative tactics for social network- ing marketing.
188 11 Understanding Change Today, initiating new interactions is often more productive than generating new products, new forms, or new styles. Graphic designers who collaborate with people in other disciplines—architects, choreographers, linguists, math- ematicians, chefs—are discovering that they can expand their practice beyond the confines of the conventional boundaries for their profession and still retain their distinctive competence. Truth be told, there are very few domains in which the input of graphic designers doesn’t enhance the end result and elevate the conversation.
189 Section Three Chapter Eleven Understanding Change Richard Saul Wurman The Architect of Understanding Richard Saul Wurman, an American architect, is best known as the cofounder of the TED conferences, (Technology Entertainment Design), the 16-minute presentation format in which charismatic speakers pitch new ideas that will change the world. He also created the TEDMED conferences and the e.g. conferences. A new format, the WWW suite of gatherings, is now in development. Wurman is also credited for having coined the term “information architecture.” He demonstrated how to present data effectively with a series of travel guidebooks in which vast amounts of information were dissected into smaller maps, graphs, and text blocks. Along with more than 40 Access guidebooks, he authored Information Anxiety (1989), Understanding Healthcare (2004), and 33: Understanding Change & the Change in Understanding (2009). One piece of information he has trouble sharing with others is his motivation. “I want you to understand something,” he says. “I do not have a message. I do not have a mission. All I am trying to do is not be boring.” Information Architects Back in 1984, when you put together Steve Jobs, who made public for the by Richard Saul Wurman your first TED conference, what was first time three working prototypes of 1997 your objective? the Macintosh; Nicholas Negroponte, All I was trying back then was to who announced the MIT Media Lab; create a conference I would person- and the president of Sony USA, who ally enjoy—one featuring people who distributed shiny little disks—the first intrigued me. I wasn’t trying to “share” CDs anyone had ever seen. I wasn’t my interests with others, but rather trying to change the world—but my satisfy my own curiosity. Granted, it guests did! was egocentric and self-serving. I just wanted my programs to be “good.” I sold TED in 2003 to a gentleman And they were. who, unlike me, is trying to “change” the world. There is a fundamental difference My very first conference was between him, who wants to “do good”— amazing. Among the speakers were and me, who wants to “be good” at Frank Gehry, who wasn’t famous yet; whatever I happen to be working on.
190 Your mission might not be to change You were one of the pioneers of data The Urban Observatory Exhibit the world, but isn’t it to make infor- visualization with your ACCESS San Diego mation more understandable? books—graphically intelligent city 2013 I have written many books on the topic guidebooks published in the 1970s. In of “understanding”—too many titles fact, aren’t you credited with coining probably: Understanding Healthcare, the term “information architecture”? Understanding USA, Understanding Yes, however, people give me credit for Children, Understand Change & the a lot of things, but really my passion is Change in Understanding, and so on. to try to understand what it’s like NOT to understand. That’s all I ever do. I sell Let me put it succinctly: Usually, to my ignorance. make things understandable, graphic designers illustrate words. They put But I cannot go to a publisher, or to pretty pictures on words. That’s not anybody for that matter, and say: “Here what I suggest you do. You should is a topic that interests me, but I don’t use words when words are better; understand it. Can you give me money you should use pictures when pictures so that I can find out?” Needless to say, are better. And you should marry I would never get the money. That’s them both when that’s better. why I generate my own projects.
191 Section Three Chapter Eleven Understanding Change My mission is not to make infor- But my latest-latest project is called conversations with me about what mation more understandable. My “555.” It’s a series of conferences to we can expect in the next five years. mission is to go from not knowing try to satisfy my curiosity about the . . . to not knowing. I never try to sell future. The format is: five cities, five You improvise! You are fearless! my expertise. In fact, rather, I sell my speakers in each city, giving predic- I am absolutely comfortable saying ignorance. When I am finished with tions for the next five years. I am 78 whatever is on my mind. I feel that a book or a project, it’s over. It’s done. years old; what am I curious about? there is no filter between my brain and I have no interest in it. I am on to the I am curious about “next”—next my mouth. Now, that looks like being next thing—to the next thing that I being the next 5 years, not the next fearless. Maybe it’s because I am primi- don’t know anything about. 10, 15, or 50 years. tive, immature, childlike, egomaniacal, not too bright. Maybe I am like the And what is the “next thing” today? What will be the format? Emperor Who Has No Clothes. There is a bunch of next things. Last I’ll improvise, as I always do in these year it was a conference format called situations, but within an extremely I don’t know another way to be— “www,” in which presenters were well-curated nebula of visual infor- but I can tell you, it works well. I paired in improvised dialogues. There mation, including cartography, am successful. is also my “Urban Observatory,” a diagrams, interactive maps, and new graphic initiative to compare so on. We’ll start in Australia and information on urban centers, and go around the world. Then Berlin, something called “The Orchard of Singapore . . . and within a year, all Understanding.” It’s a lot to explain! 25 speakers will have had improvised Crossing Diciplines Many graphic designers are content all media and incorporating as many requiring both interest and skill in to design beautiful lettering, splendid of these as possible into your own complementary media, including pages and packages, or smart logos repertoire. music, lighting, and editing, for for the course of their entire careers. example. Graphic designers have also Developing such skills over time is Crossing disciplines is not an exception become more proactive in the process both personally rewarding and profes- to the rule—it is the rule. If one is unable of conception and management in sionally satisfying, to be sure. But others to solve problems in more than one a variety of areas. The quintessential are not content about having only a discipline, a client will eventually go to cross-disciplinary graphic designer single specialty. Some view specializa- someone who can. Survival of the fittest is not merely a subcontractor serving tion as offering too few challenges and demands versatility. Crossing disciplines the needs of so-called higher-echelon therefore explore numerous options as a means that a graphic designer must designers but is an active participant matter of personal pride and preference. be something of a chameleon. Today, in an overarching planning and Still others believe that specialization crossover disciplines are woven into design scheme, a valued member of equals limitation, and limitation in this the graphic designer’s education or a team that integrates several media expanding field is professional suicide. daily routine, yet they also must be into one entity. sought out, learned, and practiced. Well, suicide may be too gruesome, but variety informs longevity. And the secret The most common crossovers involve to longevity is not a marketable style aspects of all forms of digital media for but, rather, keeping abreast of shifts in television, film, video, and exhibitions,
192 How To Talk About Your Work: The TED Model By turning business pitches into 16- It’s a grueling experience, according 4. Back to you: why you can do minute cabaret acts, the high-spirited to people who lived to tell the tale. something about it. TED conferences have changed forever Even Chip Kidd was terrified. Milton the way we talk about our work. Glaser and Paula Scher took it in stride. 5. This is the storytelling part of your Stefan Sagmeister turned out to be a presentation: Take your time, use The “E” in TED stands for “entertainment.” natural. If it were your turn, how would your hands, walk around, build Long gone are the days when audienc- you feel knowing that every word coming suspense, show pictures. es sat still while lecturers lectured and out of your mouth was going to be trans- speakers spoke. “I didn’t want to have lated into 100 languages? 6. The moment has come to ask your to listen to boring people,” says Richard audience one or two rhetorical Saul Wurman, who came up with the You might as well be prepared. Here questions. Answer them promptly. TED concept back in 1984 (see page are tips, just in case you get a call 189). How do you make sure that no from a member of the TED conferences 7. As you are about to conclude, one yawns while you speak? Regardless selection committee. bring one last visual on the of the topic, you have to present ideas screen—a quote or a chart. that have a potential to change the world. 1. Make it personal: Briefly, tell your audience who you are 8. Describe your next step— That’s why, before being allowed (self-deprecation is an option). what you will do tomorrow. to walk on the TED stage, presenters are coached by professional media 2. Have a snappy name for your 9. Take a deep breath before trainers. Regardless of their accomplish- project. Recount how you came saying “Thank you.” ments, scientists, activists, pioneers, up with it. astronauts, survivors, humanitarians, inventors, Nobel laureates, ex-presi- 3. Explain the problem you propose dents—and designers—are taught to solve. to perform.
193 Section Three Chapter Eleven Understanding Change Petrula Vrontikis Petrula Vrontikis is the owner and creative director of Vrontikis Design Office, in Los Angeles, and a leading Creating Interactions voice in design education for over 20 years. Like most graphic designers who have been practicing for many UCLA Extension Fall Quarter years, her work has transitioned from creating artifacts Poster to creating interactions. She still does the occasional Designer: Petrula Vrontikis catalog, brochure, or poster, but mostly she’s designing 2013 for online communications. What she calls her “creative ambidexterity” allows her to move around freely between worlds—between traditional and “transmedia” commu- nication strategies. “Southern California is a great place to practice design because it’s a great place to live,” she notes. “It’s a place where creativity is valued and crazy ideas can find like minds.” Why is Southern California a great I’m a seriously happy person in a seri- place to practice design? ously lovely place. Plus, Los Angeles Los Angeles has been primarily an attracts wildly talented young people entertainment industry town, but who choose to start their careers in designing for that sector has become graphic design. It’s made teaching at intolerable and no longer lucrative. Art Center College of Design so deeply However, fresh, dynamic tech compa- meaningful. nies have created Silicon Beach in the Santa Monica and Venice areas. Pasa- You are a teacher, a lecturer, and a dena is aggressively fostering innova- writer as well as a graphic designer. tive companies and venture capitalists. Is your love of words related to your This has cultivated a start-up culture love of typography? that’s energizing young entrepreneurs Yes, absolutely. I love the power that to create their own products and letterforms have to both clarify and services. It’s a very exciting time to be abstract messages and meaning. I a designer here. It’s been terrific to see love the play of words in both writing so many pioneering firms flourish here. and design. How has the culture of Los Angeles In your spare time, you are an un- influenced your design sensibility? derwater photographer. Back on dry To some, it may sound trivial, but the land, you “swim” between various de- great weather here helps me keep a sign cultures. Is transmedia graphic sunny disposition and a clear outlook. design a little bit like scuba diving?
194 and sideways—becoming fearless and What would you say is the main playful. Interacting with a well-crafted advantage of being a woman in Transmedia project feels spontaneous the design field? and delightful. I believe women have greater access to empathy—which is the successful The Changing Landscape of Processing—the software—can gen- designer’s secret weapon. Empathy Philanthropy erate incredible visuals. It’s critical energizes the design process, builds Designer: Petrula Vrontikis for students to immerse themselves trust, and connects people to ideas Photography by Susan Burks in it (the underwater metaphor is emotionally. 2013 unintended). In your evaluation, is generative design an important Many women designers and educa- Scuba diving is certainly a cross-media new discipline—and why? tors I know inspire others and bring multisensorial experience! To survive, meaning to what they do personally you must be agile—equipped with Generative design is so powerful and professionally. It pleases me to see everything required in an ever-chang- that I believe it will enable an entire women in more leadership positions ing environment. An accomplished generation of young designers to create than ever before. Attributes considered diver attains something called neutral motivations and circumstances that “female” seem to be the emerging keys buoyancy—a kind of mastery of the could never have been imagined. Its to effective creative leadership. underwater “formal skills” where power as a medium to engage and you float weightlessly without effort, interact with both individuals and Lemonade Restaurant Website neither sinking nor rising. The communities is only in its infancy. Designer: Petrula Vrontikis equivalent for a transmedia graphic Graphic designers are at the forefront 2013 designer could be called “creative of this unique expressive science ambidexterity,” which combines the experiment. It’s an entirely new skills, equipment, and mind-set for language that transcends cultural her/him to swim confidently between and communication boundaries. print, digital, dimensional, interactive, motion, and environmental media. For both the designer and the diver, this toggling becomes second nature, so we no longer have to think about barriers anymore. We become free to make left turns, travel upside down
195 Section Three Chapter Eleven Understanding Change Lemonade Restaurant Signage at LAX Airport Designer: Petrula Vrontikis Photography: Bill Brown 2011
196 Erik Adigard des Gautries The Experience of the Information Erik Adigard des Gautries is a media artist and graphic designer who studied in France and in the USA before creating M-A-D, also known as “madsx,” a brand and communication studio with Patricia McShane in the San Francisco Bay area. Remarking on the fact that he is a consultant on projects that include branding, print, Web, video, exhibits, and multimedia, he says: “It feels like Sisyphus. We are immersed in forever shifting media— the tools, supports, networks, languages, cultures—and therefore the nature of our commissions is continually changing.” His design solutions have always been surprising: from his visuals essays for Wired magazine in 1992 to his involvement with the U.S. pavilion for the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. Venice Architecture Biennale I think of you as someone who You relish projects involving U.S. Pavilion “curates” projects at the boundar- complexity, like branding IBM Designer: Erik Adigard ies between emerging medias. But software and redesigning their icon Studio: M-A-D how do you describe what you do? systems. Only two or three people Art Director: Erik Adigard Our profession is full of ambigu- on the planet really understand what 2012 ities, and that is perhaps where the you are trying to explain. Is it fun? notion of “curating” might often be Branding IBM software was an epic and more relevant than a mere focus on extremely interesting assignment, and a typography, imagery, and other core puzzle to tackle in that we had to create graphic design functions. At the end a cohesive system for five software ini- of the day, our job is to help bring tiatives that thousands of IBM designers the ventures of others into specific could easily apply to communications, parts of the world. These specific- ranging from websites to packaging and ities demand that we be adaptive, exhibits. The original brand architecture accurate, and relevant to cultural of IBM software was dated, messy, full of and technological conditions. For meaningless brand gestures, and expen- the last two centuries, technology sive to maintain. We had written a short has been the driver of culture, with letter to raise our concern: It influenced designers as tentative catalysts to them to include M-A-D in the competi- keep it on a constructive track. tion for the rebrand campaign.
197 Section Three Chapter Eleven Understanding Change You are a maven when it comes to abstract thought. What’s your secret? I don’t buy the pretense of “design thinking” but do believe that think- ing is inherently a part of design, as abstraction is part of thinking, even if necessarily complemented with context and objectives. My time studying semi- otics and linguistics in Paris did help to develop an analytical mind, but I also am inspired by and learn from others with critical thinking skills: architects, sociologists, journalists, philosophers, theorists, and so on. Much of my thinking is the outcome of due process observations and interpretations. In that sense, it is more a craft than an art and more a matter of influences than one of instinct. You said once that graphic design can help us “reframe the information that matters most.” In your work, the information that matters most is often the experience of the informa- tion. Do you agree? That is such a great way to put it! I am beginning to surrender to the idea that in this world, “experience” matters more than information. I mean this in two ways. First, experience can be a mean- ingful sensorium of ideas, some poetic and others empirical, but mostly this is an artistic point of view, and second, with interface design user experience factors are at the core of our practice yet are meant to be transparent and at the service of information. Chapter 50: AirXY Venice Architecture Biennale Designers: Erik Adigard, Chris Salter Studio: M-A-D Art Director: Erik Adigard 2008
198 Spreads from Wired Magazine There is a striking difference between In contrast, the 2012 U.S. Pavilion (1993–2000) (above) your 2008 and your 2012 Venice installation was a commission from Designers: Erik Adigard, Patricia Architectural Biennale installations. the State Department, whose concern McShane, Philip Foeckler The first one was highly technological, was information more than formal Studio: M-A-D while the second one only used paper expressions. The curator, Cathy Lang Art Director: Erik Adigard shades and pulleys. Were you trying Ho, the Guggheneim’s David Van Leer, 1993–2000 to make a point? and Freecell architects also played a My 2008 Venice Biennale installa- role in the interactive analog approach. AGI Save the Bees Poster tion was a creative commission—an One of my key contributions was to (bottom opposite) experimental design exploration about set the massive contextual information Designer: Erik Adigard media and the environment in all on the floor below the visitors and the Studio: M-A-D its dimensions. It was conceived as a 124 projects hanging from the ceiling. Art Director: Erik Adigard physical and emotive sensorium, with The simple interaction, combined with 2010 sounds, sensors, lights, rhythms, flows, the idea of displaying the entire body and even an atmosphere. The use of of information, was a gamble enthusi- sensors, fog, a strobe, and a vertical astically embraced by the visitors and projection gave the whole a peculiar the Biennale judges. sculptural quality.
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