How to Use Graphic Design | Michael Bierut | Talks at Google

Recorded in London, September 2015
Michael Bierut is a partner in the New York office of the international design consultancy Pentagram. Bierut began his career with the legendary designer Massimo Vignelli. In over 35 years of practice, he has worked for every kind of client imaginable, from professional football teams to academic research laboratories. He was elected to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 2003 and was awarded the profession’s highest honor, the AIGA Medal, in 2006. Two years later, he was named winner in the Design Mind category of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards. A teacher at the Yale School of Art and a co-founder of the Design Observer website, Bierut is the author of Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design and the co-editor of the five-volume series Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design.
The Design Observer Group:
designobserver.com/
More details about Michael's new book:
www.thamesandhudson.com/How_to...

[@aw412]

Video title should be: A genius speaking and an idiot on his phone.

[@leoray1234]

At first I thought he was taking notes, but I don't think so

[@Kunalalal]

I thought the idiot is me

[@primothegreat9022]

You're so harsh dude

[@lwfoard3104]

How have we gotten to the point where the guy in the front row thinks it's okay to sit there (IN THE FRONT ROW) and feign interest in Michael Bierut's presentation while playing on his phone for 25 minutes?

[@scottmackaydesign]

+LW Foard I noticed that too, Im wondering if at Google they encourage live tweeting and things like it. He could be reading others tweets about the talk too. Who knows?

[@matthewroop4949]

+LW Foard He could easily be live-tweeting the event. It's nothing anymore. Better to be less indignant as much as I agree it's annoying.

[@verbindung]

I think he has face-tourette

[@corgikun2579]

+verbindungsfehler I saw it too

[@corgikun2579]

16:52 you can see his face so you'll never hire him

[@cllgscreative]

This talk is so essential. Especially the part about dealing with rejection.

[@jamescat2386]

Michael Bierut comes across as a very genuine man of integrity

[@AllscottyD]

Achieving good design seems so daunting, but somehow Michael Beirut makes it feel more practical and possible.

[@musicajuansuarezm]

Michael is one of the best designers out there. Loved this insight to the process of the amazing identity for the media lab. Thanks for sharing

[@marcusmarritt5709]

Playing this to my year 1 students tomorrow morning in contextual studies, fantastic industry insight

[@Clenchedboot]

He gave a similar talk at my design school a while back and blew my mind

[@karladrianaguro9128]

He is very wise. I really like him. Great job, Mr. Bierut!

[@DanielFSmith]

I enjoyed this. Prominent company designs in the background: Yamaha, Mitsubishi, London Shard, Apple. A very neutral color throughout, drawing attention to the speaker's face. A steady pace through the talk, always interesting, and almost an art piece in itself!

[@carolineglenn2918]

I love hearing him tell the story of that first Clark logo that made him want to be a designer. There were a handful of moments I had that made me feel similarly

[@kevinjfallon]

I worked at the Media Lab he speaks of. Just as an electrician. I distinctly remember the logos he designed. At first I didn’t get it but once someone explained it to me I felt like it was truly brilliant design

[@crstfrdrnt]

I LOVE the Q&A

[@j.thorgard]

26:10 Great answer to the first question.

[@j.thorgard]

***** I had to re-watch that part of the video to understand why the hell you said that. :)

[@imani828]

This is my favourite graphic design speech of all time

[@abseil33]

I love those great questions that go to him. Thanks for sharing!

[@tomlaverty3311]

LOVED IT! Hillarious "i actually dont value my artistic integrity that high:"

[@patrickevans23]

This is a really useful talk! Thanks for sharing :)

[@swaranbains8326]

An inspiration and a living legend in the field of this work- I hope I get to work with him one day- I would like to share my ideas with him

[@beatrizmaia7721]

great talk. thank you for making this available for everyone. really nice

[@derflorian4916]

Michael Bierut is pure genius.

[@philiq18]

That was extremely insightful.

[@evaalwora1533]

Fantastic presentation!

[@littleatwork]

Very informative! Thank you :)

[@archrao2103]

Very smart audience! great questions

[@rubanzhall]

Wow awesome ideas and creativity

[@LuciferTheBloody]

Hes so right on the just design whatever you want thing being bad

[@MyInstantSearch]

This was really useful.

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Very enjoyable thanks for sharing.

[@mediumstudio]

all the MIT media lab stuff is awesome!

[@jhotojodee2345]

What a lovely guy.

[@hamidizadpanah8909]

This square guide system which act as a pattern is the flexible pattern that is used in Arabic and Persian calligraphy. They used this pattern to apply scripts and motifs in their building's surface as decoration elements since 1000 years ago. square Kufic calligraphy.

[@DiszaJatnikaGAthar1997]

Tugas ane buat resume video ini :)

[@amateurstuff]

4 people dislike the guy in right corner. sorry guy.

[@Kunalalal]

i love that screen

[@Robinfuk]

Look at that rude guy at the front playing on his phone

[@Mikha_el]

He’s taking notes. Nobody would be that rude at a a talk with an expert designer. Think about it.

[@buttcheeksguy]

@@Mikha_el taking notes for what when that was going online anyways? he kept laughing mid phone typing

[@big8611]

5 mins in the video I know I can listen to him for hours (brilliant guy) and I am not into design particularly.

[@hyacinthdibley2420]

I'm putting a sticker on the bottom right of my screen.......Yep, that helps.

[@walterwhite5249]

But I just managed with my fingers to hide him😂

[@edgarortiz1366]

Looks like a great friendly person.

[@infographie]

Excellent

[@garfellow5038]

4:00... is that just me or did the audio change?

[@Hibiol-of-my-decay]

Garfellow nop. The mic maybe was disconneted and then we hear from the camera's built in one

[@Logodesigngurucorp]

Interesting, engaging and slightly humorous talk.

[@LeonidasGrecos]

great talk :)

[@YuriRadavchuk]

So many great things come from MIT media lab. Sorry, Google, but they are the dream place to work at.

[@deatheinyoutube4442]

I want to slap the guy with the phone.....

[@mr.nicktuts653]

the Guy is doing nothing wrong ..he is just concentrating taking not smart student

[@qwertyki9367]

@@mr.nicktuts653 taking not smart student?

[@512banana1]

@@qwertyki9367 lol ikr?

[@ChalkyTheASMR]

I was looking forward to a comment about him

[@GraylingImprintTV]

Your great!

[@altamiranocorinaleonor938]

Debe ser una información muy interesante, lastima no tiene subtitulos en Español

[@MirceaPanduru]

After several decades of logo design: 'Logos are weird because on one level, they're this weird piece of commercial marketing -- they're a commercial marketing tool. On the other hand, people do take them personally. It's someone's signature. It's the flag that they fight under. It's the sign over the door they go to five days a week or more. So it does mean a little bit more to them than just colors and shapes, I find.' -- Mike Bierut

[@KaneFord]

@9:50 -- He says "demonstration" but "demonstraction" is in the presentation - interesting!

[@KaneFord]

(I'm just curious if there was a story behind that being included like that.)

[@Thang259]

does anyone know how they made the animation for the logos at 21:00 ?

[@syedaabeerfatima7175]

does anyone know who is the designer of clark logo ??, which inspire the greatest graphic designer, Michael Bierut

[@sunshizzleyou]

“Interestingly Bad” (14:44).... I need this t-shirt!

[@MarceloAbans]

@21:39 he enjoys the drop here.

[@ojedalistellobrunoramiro5014]

Estas acá por introducción al diseño ;)

[@coulddooooo]

I don't get the question about using the Google Logo or a made up logo? Anyone?

[@PandamoniumArts]

I think the bloke in the right hand corner is actually taking notes on Google One Note.

[@7bigapple]

How did the person filming this not notice the audience member's big head obstructing the screen? Hugely distracting! C'mon Google...

[@brookygamesvr]

Could have taken the 9 letters and changed the "media" to a different color.

[@RobTyleruk]

+Doodle Books a great logo works in black and white

[@raysanford2048]

I'm super distracted by the distracted guy.

[@jpat313]

strange noise at 35:41 lol

[@alexmeza5155]

is that bottle floating?

[@siyabongamtetwa7888]

I love this presentation. BUT the guy with the phone on the front just kills every 'inch' of attention I have.

[@janaeallen7618]

Only 12 dislikes but the comments are filled with shame .... where is the positivity

[@mashable8759]

I'm 20, so is it too late that i had that moment that Michael is telling us at this age? Am i too late to be a graphic designer?

[@michaelkelly3158]

I'm 26, so I sure as hell hope not!

[@Bananapocalypse]

No, I’m 28 and am going to graduate with my bachelors in Communication Design in a year.

[@ArnoldPranks]

4:00 - mic fail.. how is this Google, the biggest of companies on earth, even in 2015?

[@cecilialu7]

Why the man sitting there kept playing on phone?

[@HitchcockTheBirds]

He's using a macbook at a Google presentation

[@HitchcockTheBirds]

android vs ios? I know that when it comes to computers, ya they don't have competition but they're pretty big rivals

[@Infamous_man]

what is he supposed to use? A Chromebook?

[@HitchcockTheBirds]

A windows laptop perhaps? I don't know, he can use whatever he wishes, it's just that google and apple are kinda rivals...

[@piccolaradge8333]

But he's a Graphic "Designer " in this Business it's more common to have a MacBook than something else 😅

[@PeterSather]

mac = graphic design industry standard. just is.

[@KrisKehasukjaren88]

Yea that guy in the front walked into the wrong talk

[@ijuh22]

I've been told people think Google employees are arrogant and looking at the guy in the front row I can see why. Can't they be taught some manners?

[@williamwong2733]

Why Michael Bierut having the same speech everywhere?

[@hyacinthdibley2420]

William Wong because without the internet, only one group of audience would have seen the presentation at Indaba. People do it all the time that is how we send messages all over the world. Do the same things everywhere many times. It just looks too much because each presentation was recorded and uploaded here on YT.

[@kennethadrian]

35:31

[@yezzytatta8035]

If I were the one in charge of this talk event, I would have kicked the rude guy in the front row 30 after the talk started. Huge respect to Mr. Michael Bierut for being the legend and so patient with that moron.

[@TheHoolabalooga]

The guy using phone is an EYESORE!!!

[@Aisensan]

The guy on the right constantly typing on his mobile phone...

[@m93sek]

Funny guy

[@gonebymidnight2881]

The main problem with design is the jury of your work (the client ) is mostly design-wise uneducated and and most of their clients are plain dumb. luckily doctors and others professionals are not subject to that process where the uneducated opinion is what prevails.

[@dylandavies9637]

9:45 minutes in, typo on slide!! 'demonstraction' instead of demonstration. Shame.

[@johnmwendwa3802]

Whats wrong with that guy in his damn phone, I'd like to think he's tweeting but no! Sucks! This edit; I think he's taking notes on Google Keep!

[@ranawaleed6109]

Fix ur microphone

[@Blackblaze2007]

eer??? SEPERATE???! wheres the attention to detail?? this is suppose to be a graphic design education...

[@hyacinthdibley2420]

*SOMEONE PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAASSSEEE SLAP THAT 'BOY' IN THE FRONT WITH THE PHONE!!!* THAT IS THE WORST INSULT TO A PRESENTER.....especially to Mr Bierut. ....even if he were a reporter looking up questions or a doctor texting life-saving techniques...I DON'T CARE. WTHk?!!

[@ijuh22]

I hate this guy in the front row so much it's hard to watch this talk. These manners would've never been acceptable a few decades ago.

[@footcharaf]

I am the best graphic designer in the third world countries

[@elenasfait8799]

Gherla😅