ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Bierut - Designer, critic
Michael Bierut is a partner in the New York office of Pentagram, a founder of Design Observer and a teacher at Yale School of Art and Yale School of Management.

Why you should listen

Michael Bierut studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, graduating summa cum laude in 1980. Prior to joining Pentagram in 1990 as a partner in the firm's New York office, he worked for ten years at Vignelli Associates, ultimately as vice president of graphic design.

His projects at Pentagram have included work for the New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Harley-Davidson, The Museum of Arts and Design, Mastercard, the New York City Department of Transportation, the Robin Hood Foundation, Mohawk Paper Mills, New World Symphony, the New York Jets, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and MIT Media Lab. As a volunteer to Hillary for America, he created the ubiquitous H logo that was used throughout the 2016 presidential campaign.

He has won hundreds of design awards and his work is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal. He served as president of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) from 1988 to 1990 and is president emeritus of AIGA National. Bierut was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 1989, to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 2003, and was awarded the profession’s highest honor, the AIGA Medal, in 2006. In 2008, he was named winner in the Design Mind category of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. In spring 2016, Bierut was appointed the Henry Wolf Graphic Designer in Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

Bierut is a senior critic in graphic design at the Yale School of Art and a lecturer at the Yale School of Management. He writes frequently about design and is the co-editor of the five-volume series Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design published by Allworth Press. In 2002, Bierut co-founded Design Observer, a blog of design and cultural criticism which now features podcasts on design, popular culture, and business.

Bierut's book 79 Short Essays on Design was published in 2007 by Princeton Architectural Press. A monograph on his work, How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry and (every once in a while) change the world, was published in 2015 by Thames & Hudson and Harper Collins. This accompanied the first retrospective exhibition of his work, part of the School of Visual Art's Masters Series, which was on view at the SVA Chelsea Gallery in New York City for five weeks in autumn 2015. His next book, Now You See It, is due out from Princeton Architectural Press this fall. 


More profile about the speaker
Michael Bierut | Speaker | TED.com
TEDNYC

Michael Bierut: How to design a library that makes kids want to read

Michael Bierut: Sådan designer du et bibliotek, hvor børn får lyst til at læse

Filmed:
1,850,983 views

Da Michael Bierut blev valgt til at designe et logo for folkeskolebiblioteker, havde han ingen idé om, at han var ved at involvere sig selv i et årelangt passionsprojekt. I dette ofte sjove oplæg, fortæller han om sin betagede søgen for at bringe energi, læring, kunst og grafik ind i de her magiske rum, hvor skolebiblioteker kan inspirere en ny generation af læsere og tænkere.
- Designer, critic
Michael Bierut is a partner in the New York office of Pentagram, a founder of Design Observer and a teacher at Yale School of Art and Yale School of Management. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
So there's this thing calledhedder
the lawlov of unintendedutilsigtede consequenceskonsekvenser.
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Der er noget der hedder loven om
utilsigtede konsekvenser.
00:17
I thought it was just like a sayingordsprog,
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Jeg troede, det kun var et ordsprog,
00:19
but it actuallyrent faktisk existseksisterer, I guessgætte.
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men det eksisterer faktisk
00:20
There's, like, academicakademisk paperspapirer about it.
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Der er akademiske artikler om det.
00:23
And I'm a designerdesigner.
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Og jeg er en designer.
00:24
I don't like unintendedutilsigtede consequenceskonsekvenser.
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Jeg kan ikke lide utilsigtede
konsekvenser.
00:27
People hireleje me because they have
consequenceskonsekvenser that they really intendhensigt,
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Folk hyrer mig fordi de vil have
konsekvenser de virkelig tilsigter,
00:31
and what they intendhensigt is for me
to help them achieveopnå those consequenceskonsekvenser.
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og de regner med at jeg kan
hjælpe dem med at opnå de konsekvenser
00:35
So I livelevende in fearfrygt
of unintendedutilsigtede consequenceskonsekvenser.
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Så jeg lever i frygt for utilsigtede
konsekvenser.
00:38
And so this is a storyhistorie about
consequenceskonsekvenser intendedberegnet and unintendedutilsigtede.
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Så det her er en historie om både
tilsigtede og utilsigtede konsekvenser.
00:44
I got calledhedder by an organizationorganisation
calledhedder RobinRobin HoodHood
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Jeg blev ringet op
af organisationen Robin Hood
00:47
to do a favorfavorisere for them.
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for at gøre dem en tjeneste.
Robin Hood ligger i New York,
en skøn filantropisk organisation.
00:48
RobinRobin HoodHood is basedbaseret in NewNye YorkYork,
a wonderfulvidunderlig philanthropicfilantropiske organizationorganisation
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00:52
that does what it sayssiger in the namenavn.
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De gør, hvad navnet siger.
00:54
They take from richrig people,
give it to poorfattige people.
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De tager fra de rige
og giver til de fattige.
00:56
In this casetilfælde, what they wanted to benefitfordel
was the NewNye YorkYork CityCity schoolskole systemsystem,
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I dette tilfælde ville de gerne give til
skolesystemet i New York,
01:01
a hugekæmpe stor enterpriseEnterprise that educatesuddanner
more than a millionmillion studentsstuderende at a time,
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et kæmpe foretagende, der uddanner
millioner af elever på samme tid,
01:07
and in buildingsbygninger that are like this one,
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og i bygninger som denne,
01:09
oldgammel buildingsbygninger, bigstor buildingsbygninger,
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gamle bygninger, store bygninger,
01:11
draftyUtætte buildingsbygninger, sometimesSommetider buildingsbygninger
that are in disrepairforfald,
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bygninger med træk, indimellem dårligt
vedligeholdte bygninger,
01:14
certainlysikkert buildingsbygninger
that could use a renovationrenovering.
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helt sikkert bygninger,
der kunne bruge renovering.
01:17
RobinRobin HoodHood had this ambitionambition
to improveforbedre these buildingsbygninger in some way,
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Robin Hood har ambitionen om
at forbedre de her bygninger på en måde,
01:20
but what they realizedgik op for was
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men det er gået op for dem,
01:21
to fixrette op the buildingsbygninger would be
too expensivedyrt and impracticalupraktisk.
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at ordne bygningerne vil blive både dyrt
og være upraktisk.
01:26
So insteadi stedet they triedforsøgt to figurefigur out
what one roomværelse they could go into
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Så i stedet har de prøvet at finde ud af
hvilket enkelt rum de kunne gå ind i
01:30
in eachhver of these buildingsbygninger,
in as manymange buildingsbygninger that they could,
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i hver eneste bygninger,
i så mange bygninger de kunne,
01:33
and fixrette op that one roomværelse
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og ordne det ene rum,
01:36
so that they could improveforbedre
the livesliv of the childrenbørn insideinde
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så de kunne forbedre livet
for eleverne inden i,
01:39
as they were studyingstudere.
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imens de studerer.
01:40
And what they camekom up with
was the schoolskole librarybibliotek,
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Og det de kom frem til
var skolebiblioteket,
01:43
and they camekom up with this ideaide
calledhedder the LibraryBibliotek InitiativeInitiativ.
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og de kom på idéen,
der hedder biblioteks-initiativet.
01:46
All the studentsstuderende
have to passpassere throughigennem the librarybibliotek.
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Alle elever skal igennem biblioteket.
01:48
That's where the booksbøger are.
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Det er der bøgerne er.
01:49
That's where the hearthjerte
and soulsjæl of the schoolskole is.
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Det er der hjertet og sjælen af skolen er.
01:52
So let's fixrette op these librariesbiblioteker.
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Så lad os fikse bibliotekerne.
01:53
So they did this wonderfulvidunderlig thing
where they broughtbragt in
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Så de gjorde den fantastiske ting
at de fik fat i
først 10 og så 20 arkitekter mere,
01:56
first 10, then 20, then more architectsarkitekter,
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01:59
eachhver one of whomhvem was assignedtildelt a librarybibliotek
to rethinkgenoverveje what a librarybibliotek was.
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som hver især blev tildelt et bibliotek,
og skulle gentænke hvad et bibliotek er.
02:03
They traineduddannet specialsærlig librariansbibliotekarer.
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De trænede specielle bibliotikarer.
02:05
So they startedstartede this mightymægtige enterpriseEnterprise
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Så de begyndte dette mægtige foretagende,
02:07
to reformreformen publicoffentlig schoolsskoler
by improvingforbedring these librariesbiblioteker.
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for at reformere folkeskoler ved at
forbedre deres biblioteker.
02:10
Then they calledhedder me up and they said,
"Could you make a little contributionbidrag?"
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De ringede til mig og spurgte,
"Kunne du hjælpe os en smule?"
02:13
I said, "Sure, what do you want me to do?"
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Jeg sagde, "Klart, hvad skal I bruge?"
02:16
And they said, "Well, we want you
to be the graphicgrafisk designerdesigner
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De sagde, "Vi vil gerne have
dig som den grafiske designer,
02:18
in chargeoplade of the wholehel thing."
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der står for det hele."
02:20
And so I thought, I know what that meansmidler.
That meansmidler I get to designdesign a logologo.
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Jeg tænkte, jeg ved, hvad det betyder.
Det betyder, jeg skal designe et logo.
Det ved jeg hvordan man gør.
Jeg designer logoer.
02:23
I know how to designdesign that. I designdesign logoslogoer.
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Det er derfor folk kommer til mig.
02:26
That's what people come to me for.
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Så okay, lad os designe et logo til det.
02:27
So OK, let's designdesign a logologo for this thing.
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02:29
EasyNem to do, actuallyrent faktisk,
comparedsammenlignet with architecturearkitektur
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Faktisk let at gøre
sammenlignet med arkitektur
02:32
and beingvære a librarianBibliotekar.
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og at være bibliotekar.
02:33
Just do a logologo, make a contributionbidrag,
and then you're out,
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Lav et logo,
hjælp lidt og så er du færdig,
02:36
and you feel really good about yourselfdig selv.
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og så har du det godt med dig selv.
02:38
And I'm a great guy and I like to feel
good about myselfMig selv when I do these favorsfavoriserer.
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Jeg er en fed fyr, som får det godt
med mig selv, når jeg hjælper andre.
Så jeg tænkte, jeg overleverer.
02:41
So I thought, let's overdeliverOverdeliver.
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Jeg laver tre logoer,
alle baseret på én idé.
02:43
I'm going to give you threetre logoslogoer,
all basedbaseret on this one ideaide.
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02:46
So you have threetre optionsmuligheder,
pickplukke any of the threetre.
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Så har I tre muligheder,
vælg én af de tre.
De er alle gode, sagde jeg.
02:48
They're all great, I said.
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02:50
So the basicgrundlæggende ideaide was
these would be newny schoolskole librariesbiblioteker
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Så idéen var at de skulle være til nye
skolebiblioteker
02:53
for NewNye YorkYork schoolsskoler,
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for skoler i New York,
02:54
and so the ideaide is that it's a newny thing,
a newny ideaide that needsbehov a newny namenavn.
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og idéen er, at det er en ny ting,
en ny idé som har brug for et nyt navn.
02:58
What I wanted to do was dispelfjerne the ideaide
that these were mustymuggen oldgammel librariesbiblioteker,
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Det, jeg ville, var, at skrotte idéen om
at det var gamle, klamme biblioteker,
03:03
the kindvenlig of placessteder
that everyonealle sammen is boredkeder sig with,
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den slags steder, alle synes er kedelige,
du ved, ikke dine bedsteforældres
bibliotek.
03:07
you know, not your grandparents'bedsteforældres librarybibliotek.
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Det skal du ikke bekymre dig om
03:09
Don't worrybekymre about that at all.
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03:10
This is going to this newny, excitingspændende thing,
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Det her skal være nyt og spændende,
03:13
not a boringkedelig librarybibliotek.
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ikke et kedeligt bibliotek.
03:14
So optionmulighed numbernummer one:
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Så mulighed nummer et:
i stedet for at tænke på det
som et bibliotek,
03:15
so insteadi stedet of thinkingtænker of it as a librarybibliotek,
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03:18
think of it as a placeplacere where it is like:
do talk, do make loudhøjt noiseslyde.
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tænk på det som et sted,
hvor man må tale og lave høje lyde.
03:22
Right? So no shushingshushing,
it's like a shush-freetie-fri zonezone.
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Ingen tysning, det er tys-fri zone.
03:26
We're going to call it the ReadingLæsning RoomVærelse.
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Vi kalder det læserummet.
03:28
That was optionmulighed numbernummer one.
OK, optionmulighed numbernummer two.
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Det var mulighed nummer et.
Okay, mulighed nummer to.
03:31
OptionIndstilling numbernummer two was, wait for it,
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Mulighed nummer to er, vent på det...
03:35
OWLUGLE.
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OWL.
03:36
I'll meetmøde you at OWLUGLE.
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Jeg møder dig ved OWL.
03:37
I'm getting my bookBestil from the OWLUGLE.
MeetMød you after schoolskole down at OWLUGLE.
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Jeg henter mine bøger fra OWL.
Lad os mødes efter skole ved OWL.
03:41
I like that, right?
Now, what does OWLUGLE standstå for?
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Lyder meget godt?
Men hvad står OWL for?
03:43
Well, it could be One WorldVerden LibraryBibliotek,
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Altså det kunne være One World Library
03:45
or it could be OpenÅben. WonderUnderligt. LearnLære.
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eller det kunne være Open. Wonder. Learn.
03:48
Or it could be -- and I figurefigur librariansbibliotekarer
could figurefigur out other things it could be
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Eller det kunne være bibliotekarerne
kunne finde på noget,
03:52
because they know about wordsord.
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fordi de ved en masse om ord.
03:54
So other things, right?
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Så andre ting.
03:55
And then look at this.
It's like the eyeøje of the owlugle.
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Og se så det her.
Det ligner en ugles øje.
Det er uimodståeligt,
hvis du spørger mig.
03:57
This is irresistibleuimodståelig in my opinionmening.
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Men der er også en anden ide.
03:59
But there's even anotheren anden ideaide.
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04:01
OptionIndstilling numbernummer threetre.
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Mulighed nummer tre.
04:02
OptionIndstilling numbernummer threetre
was basedbaseret actuallyrent faktisk on languageSprog.
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Mulighed nummer tre
er faktisk baseret på sprog.
04:04
It's the ideaide that "readlæse"
is the pastforbi tenseanspændt of "readlæse,"
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Det er idéen at "read" er datid af "read",
04:08
and they're bothbegge spelledstavet the samesamme way.
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og de er stavet på samme måde.
04:10
So why don't we call
this placeplacere The RedRød ZoneZone?
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Så hvorfor kalder vi det ikke
den røde zone.
04:13
I'll meetmøde you at the RedRød ZoneZone.
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Jeg møder dig i den røde zone.
04:14
Are you RedRød? Get RedRød.
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Er du rød? Bliv rød.
04:17
I'm well RedRød.
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Jeg er vellæst.
04:19
(LaughterLatter)
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(Latter)
Jeg elskede virkelig denne her idé
04:20
I really lovedelskede this ideaide,
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04:21
and I somehowen eller anden måde was not focusedfokuseret on the ideaide
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og jeg var på en eller anden måde ikke
fokuseret på idéen,
04:24
that librariansbibliotekarer as a classklasse are sortsortere of
interestedinteresseret in spellingstavekontrol and I don't know.
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at bibliotikarer er ret interesseret i,
hvordan man staver. Jeg ved ikke.
04:30
(LaughterLatter)
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(Latter)
04:31
But sometimesSommetider clevernessklogskab
is more importantvigtig than spellingstavekontrol,
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Men nogle gange er snedighed vigtigere
end stavning,
04:35
and I thought this would be
one of those instancesforekomster.
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og jeg tænkte, at dette
ville være en af de gange.
04:37
So usuallysom regel when I make these presentationspræsentationer
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Så normalt når jeg laver de her
præsentationer,
04:39
I say there's just one questionspørgsmål
and the questionspørgsmål should be,
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siger jeg, at der kun er et spørgsmål,
"Hvordan kan jeg takke dig, Mike?"
04:42
"How can I thank you, MikeMike?"
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04:44
But in this casetilfælde,
the questionspørgsmål was more like,
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Men i det her tilfælde
var spørgsmålet mere,
04:46
"UmUM, are you kiddingkidding?"
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"Laver du sjov?"
04:49
Because, they said,
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De sagde,
at præmissen for alt det her arbejde
04:50
the premiseforudsætning of all this work
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04:52
was that kidsbørn were boredkeder sig
with oldgammel librariesbiblioteker, mustymuggen oldgammel librariesbiblioteker.
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var, at børnene kedede sig i
klamme, gamle biblioteker.
04:56
They were tiredtræt of them.
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De var trætte af dem.
04:57
And insteadi stedet, they said, these kidsbørn
have never really seenset a librarybibliotek.
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Og istedet sagde de, at de her børn,
aldrig havde set et bibliotek.
05:01
The schoolskole librariesbiblioteker in these schoolsskoler
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Skolebibliotekerne på de her skoler
05:02
are really so dilapidatedfaldefærdige,
if they're there at all,
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er så faldefærdige, hvis overhovedet
at de er der,
05:06
that they haven'thar ikke boredkeder sig anyonenogen som helst.
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at de ikke har kedet nogen.
05:08
They haven'thar ikke even been there
to boreboring anyonenogen som helst at all.
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De har aldrig været der til at kede nogen.
05:11
So the ideaide was, just forgetglemme
about givinggiver it a newny namenavn.
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Så idéen var bare at glemme,
at give dem et nyt navn.
05:14
Just call it, one last try, a librarybibliotek.
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Bare kald dem, som en sidste mulighed,
for et bibliotek.
05:18
Right? OK.
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Ja? Okay.
05:20
So I thought, OK, give it a little oomphpift?
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Så jeg tænkte, okay, skal vi give
det et lille pift.
05:23
ExclamationUdråbstegn pointpunkt?
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Udråbstegn?
05:24
Then -- this is because I'm cleverdygtig --
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Og så - fordi jeg er klog -
05:26
movebevæge sig that into the "i,"
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flyt det ind til i'et,
05:28
make it redrød,
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lav det rød,
05:30
and there you have it,
the LibraryBibliotek InitiativeInitiativ.
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og der har du det,
biblioteksinitiativet.
Så jeg troede opgaven var færdig,
her er jeres logo.
05:32
So I thought, missionmission accomplishedgennemført,
there's your logologo.
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Her er hvad der er interessant ved logoet,
en utilsigtet konsekvens.
05:34
So what's interestinginteressant about this logologo,
an unintendedutilsigtede consequencefølge,
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Det viste sig, at de ikke engang
rigtig ville have mit design,
05:37
was that it turnedvendt out that
they didn't really even need my designdesign
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for du kunne skrive det i
alle skifttyper eller skrive det i hånden,
05:41
because you could typetype it any fontskrifttype,
you could writeskrive it by handhånd,
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05:44
and when they startedstartede
sendingsende emailse-mails around,
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og da de begyndte at sende emails rundt
05:46
they just would use ShiftSkift and 1,
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brugte de bare shift og 1,
05:47
they'dde ville get theirderes ownegen logologo
just right out of the thing.
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de fik deres eget logo ud af det
05:50
And I thought, well, that's fine.
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Og jeg tænkte, at det var fint.
05:52
Feel freegratis to use that logologo.
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Vær velkommen til at bruge logoet.
05:53
And then I embarkedindledt
on the realægte rolloutRul ud of this thing --
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Og så begyndte jeg på den rigtige opgave,
05:56
workingarbejder with everyhver one of the architectsarkitekter
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nemlig at arbejde
med alle arkitekterne på,
05:58
to put this logologo on the frontforan doordør
of theirderes ownegen librarybibliotek. Right?
135
346840
3000
at få logoet på hoveddøren på deres
eget bibliotek. Okay?
06:02
So here'sher er the bigstor rolloutRul ud.
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Så her er den store opgave.
06:03
BasicallyDybest set I'd work
with differentforskellige architectsarkitekter.
137
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Jeg arbejde med de forskellige arkitekter.
06:06
First RobinRobin HoodHood was my clientklient.
Now these architectsarkitekter were my clientklient.
138
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Først var Robin Hood min klient.
Nu var arkitekterne mine klienter.
06:09
I'd say, "Here'sHer er your logologo.
Put it on the doordør."
139
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Jeg sagde, "Her er dit logo. Put det på
døren."
06:11
"Here'sHer er your logologo. Put it on bothbegge doorsdøre."
140
359543
1953
"Her er dit logo. Put det på begge døre."
"Her er dit logo. Put det
længere til siden."
06:13
"Here'sHer er your logologo.
Put it off to the sideside."
141
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2016
"Her er dit logo. Gentag det øverst."
06:15
"Here'sHer er your logologo
repeatedgentaget all over to the toptop."
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Så alt gik efter planen.
06:17
So everything was going swimminglystrygende.
143
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Jeg sagde bare, "Her er dit logo. Her er
dit logo."
06:19
I just was sayingordsprog,
"Here'sHer er your logologo. Here'sHer er your logologo."
144
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Så blev jeg ringet op af
en af arkitekterne,
06:22
Then I got a call
from one of the architectsarkitekter,
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370240
2136
en fyr, der hedder Richard Lewis, og han
sagde, "Jeg har et problem."
06:24
a guy namedsom hedder RichardRichard LewisLewis,
and he sayssiger, "I've got a problemproblem.
146
372400
2856
Du er grafikeren. Kan du løse det?"
06:27
You're the graphicsgrafik guy.
Can you solveløse it?"
147
375280
2016
Og jeg sagde "Helt sikkert."
06:29
And I said, OK, sure."
148
377320
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Og han sagde, "Problemet er, at der er
et mellemrum
06:30
And he said, "The problemproblem is
that there's a spaceplads
149
378560
2576
06:33
betweenmellem the shelfhylde and the ceilingloft."
150
381160
1816
mellem hylden og loftet."
06:35
So that soundslyde like
an architecturalarkitektoniske issueproblem to me,
151
383000
2336
Det lyder som et arkitektonisk problem,
ikke et grafisk problem, så jeg siger
"Fortsæt."
06:37
not a graphicgrafisk designdesign issueproblem,
so I'm, "Go on."
152
385360
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06:39
And RichardRichard sayssiger, "Well,
the toptop shelfhylde has to be lowlav enoughnok
153
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Og Richard siger,
"Jamen, top-hylden skal være lav nok til,
06:43
for the kidbarn to reach it,
154
391160
1216
at børnene kan nå den,
men jeg er i en virkelig gammel bygning,
og der er højt til loftet,
06:44
but I'm in a bigstor oldgammel buildingbygning,
and the ceilingslofter are really highhøj,
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392400
3000
så jeg har faktisk en masse plads deroppe,
06:47
so actuallyrent faktisk I've got
all this spaceplads up there
156
395424
2072
og jeg skal bruge et vægmaleri."
06:49
and I need something like a muralvægmaleri."
157
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1696
06:51
And I'm like, "WhoaWhoa,
you know, I'm a logologo designerdesigner.
158
399240
2936
Og jeg tænker,
"Orv, jeg er en logodesigner.
06:54
I'm not DiegoDiego RiveraRivera or something.
159
402200
2136
Jeg er ikke Diego Rivera eller noget.
06:56
I'm not a muralistmuralist."
160
404360
1616
Jeg er ikke vægmaler."
06:58
And so he said, "But can't you
think of anything?"
161
406000
2376
Og han siger,
"Men kan du komme på en idé?"
Så jeg siger, "Okay, hvad hvis vi bare
tager billeder af børnene på skolen,
07:00
So I said, "OK, what if we just
tooktog picturesbilleder of the kidsbørn in the schoolskole
162
408400
5376
07:05
and just put them around
the toptop of the thing,
163
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2456
og putter dem på toppen af det,
07:08
and maybe that could work."
164
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1336
måske kunne det fungere."
07:09
And my wifekone is a photographerfotograf,
165
417640
1856
Og min kone er fotograf,
og jeg sagde,
"Dorothy, der er ikke nogen penge,
07:11
and I said, "DorothyDorothy, there's no budgetbudget,
166
419520
1936
07:13
can you come to this schoolskole
in eastøst NewNye YorkYork, take these picturesbilleder?"
167
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kan du komme til denne skole i øst
New York og tage billeder?"
07:16
And she did,
168
424680
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Og det gjorde hun,
07:17
and if you go in Richard'sRichards librarybibliotek,
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1976
og hvis du går ind i Richards bibliotek,
07:19
whichhvilken is one of the first that openedåbnet,
170
427920
1856
som er det første, der åbnede,
så har det en vidunderlig frise
af skolens helte,
07:21
it has this gloriousherlige friezefrise
of, like, the heroeshelte of the schoolskole,
171
429800
3096
07:24
oversizedoverdimensioneret, looking down
172
432920
1696
overdimensioneret, og kigger
07:26
into the little dollhousedukkehus
of the realægte librarybibliotek, right?
173
434640
3016
ind i dukkehuset af det rigtige bibliotek.
07:29
And the kidsbørn were great,
hand-selectedhåndplukkede by the principalsrektorer
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Og børnene var fantastiske
håndvalgt af rektorerne
07:32
and the librarianBibliotekar.
175
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og bibliotekaren.
07:34
It just kindvenlig of createdskabt
this heroicheroiske atmosphereatmosfære in this librarybibliotek,
176
442320
3256
Det skabte ligesom denne her
heroiske atmosfære i biblioteket,
07:37
this very dignifiedværdig settingindstilling belowunder
and the joyglæde of the childrenbørn aboveover.
177
445600
3496
det meget værdige sted nedenfor
og glæden af børnene ovenover.
07:41
So naturallynaturligt all the other librariansbibliotekarer
in the other schoolsskoler see this
178
449120
4336
Så naturligvis ser alle de andre skolers
bibliotekarer det,
07:45
and they said, well, we want muralskalkmalerier too.
179
453480
1936
og siger, at de også vil have vægmalerier.
07:47
And I'm like, OK.
180
455440
1296
Og jeg sådan, okay.
Så tænker jeg, altså, det kan ikke
være det samme maleri hver gang
07:48
So then I think, well,
it can't be the samesamme muralvægmaleri everyhver time,
181
456760
2896
07:51
so DorothyDorothy did anotheren anden one,
and then she did anotheren anden one,
182
459680
3056
så Dorothy lavede et til, og så et til,
men så havde vi brug for mere hjælp
07:54
but then we neededhavde brug for more help,
183
462760
1616
07:56
so I calledhedder an illustratorillustrator I knewvidste
namedsom hedder LynnLynn PauleyPauley,
184
464400
2856
så jeg ringede til en illustrator,
jeg kender, der hedder Lynn Pauley,
07:59
and LynnLynn did these beautifulsmuk
paintingsmalerier of the kidsbørn.
185
467280
2936
og Lynn lavede nogle smukke malerier
af børnene.
Så ringede jeg til Charles Wilkin
fra et sted, der hedder Automatic Design.
08:02
Then I calledhedder a guy namedsom hedder CharlesCharles WilkinWilkin
at a placeplacere calledhedder AutomaticAutomatisk DesignDesign.
186
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08:06
He did these amazingfantastiske collagescollager.
187
474600
1800
Han lavede nogle fantastiske kollager.
Vi fik Rafael Esquer
08:08
We had RafaelRafael EsquerEsquer
188
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2336
til at lave nogle fremragende silhouetter.
08:11
do these great silhouettessilhuetter.
189
479320
1856
08:13
He would work with the kidsbørn,
askingspørger for wordsord,
190
481200
2176
Han arbejdede med børnene,
spurgte dem om ord,
08:15
and then basedbaseret on those promptsdu bliver bedt om,
191
483400
1576
og baseret på deres svar,
08:17
come up with this little,
deliriousvildelse kindvenlig of constellationkonstellation
192
485000
2696
kom han på de her små vilde
konstellationer
af silhouetter af ting,
der er i bøger.
08:19
of silhouettessilhuetter
of things that are in booksbøger.
193
487720
2056
Peter Arkle interviewede børnene,
08:21
PeterPeter ArkleArkle interviewedinterviewede the kidsbørn
194
489800
1576
og fik dem til at snakke
om deres yndlingsbøger,
08:23
and had them talk
about theirderes favoritefavorit booksbøger
195
491400
2096
og puttede deres vidnesbyrd
derop som en frise.
08:25
and he put theirderes testimonyvidnesbyrd
as a friezefrise up there.
196
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2256
08:27
StefanStefan SagmeisterSagmeister workedarbejdet with YukoYuko ShimizuShimizu
197
495800
2256
Stefan Sagmeister arbejdede med
Yuko Shimizu,
og de lavede en fantastisk
manga-inspieret erklæring
08:30
and they did this amazingfantastiske
manga-stylemanga-stil statementudmelding,
198
498080
2296
08:32
"EveryoneAlle who is honestærlig is interestinginteressant,"
199
500400
2456
"Alle der er ærlige er interessante,"
08:34
that goesgår all the way around.
200
502880
1856
det går hele vejen rundt.
08:36
ChristophChristoph NiemannNiemann, brilliantstrålende illustratorillustrator,
201
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2376
Christoph Niemann, strålende illustrator,
08:39
did a wholehel seriesserie of things
202
507160
1376
lavede en serie af ting,
08:40
where he embeddedindlejret booksbøger
into the facesansigter and characterstegn
203
508560
3016
hvor han indlagde bøger i
ansigter og karakterer
08:43
and imagesbilleder and placessteder
that you find in the booksbøger.
204
511600
3136
og billeder og steder,
som man finder i bøger.
08:46
And then even MairaMaira KalmanKalman
205
514760
2039
Og selv Maira Kalman
08:48
did this amazingfantastiske cryptickryptiske installationinstallation
of objectsobjekter and wordsord
206
516840
3815
lavede denne fantastiske kryptiske
installation af objekter og ord,
08:52
that kindvenlig of go all around
and will fascinatefascinere studentsstuderende
207
520679
3177
der vil gå hele vejen rundt
og fascinere elever,
08:55
for as long as it's up there.
208
523880
1576
så længe det er oppe.
08:57
So this was really satisfyingopfylder,
209
525480
1656
Så det var virkelig tilfredstillende,
08:59
and basicallyi bund og grund my rolerolle here was readinglæsning
a seriesserie of dimensionsdimensioner to these artistskunstnere,
210
527160
5896
og hovedsagligt var min rolle at læse
en serie af dimensioner til kunsterne,
09:05
and I would say,
211
533080
1256
og jeg ville sige,
09:06
"ThreeTre feetfødder by 15 feetfødder, whateveruanset hvad you want.
212
534360
2696
"90 cm gange 460 cm, hvad end du vil.
09:09
Let me know if you have
any problemproblem with that."
213
537080
2216
Sig til hvis du har nogen problemer."
Og så ville de montere det.
Det var det bedste.
09:11
And they would go and installinstallere these.
It just was the greateststørst thing.
214
539320
3216
09:14
But the greateststørst thing, actuallyrent faktisk, was --
215
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2296
Men det allerbedste var faktisk --
09:16
EveryHver onceenkelt gang in a while,
216
544880
1216
Engang imellem,
09:18
I'd get, like, an invitationinvitation in the mailpost
madelavet of constructionkonstruktion paperpapir,
217
546120
3216
fik jeg en invitation i posten,
lavet af byggeripaper,
og det ville sige, "Du er inviteret til
åbningen af vores nye bibliotek."
09:21
and it would say, "You are invitedinviteret
to the openingåbning of our newny librarybibliotek."
218
549360
3296
Så jeg tog på biblioteket,
lad os sige PS10,
09:24
So you'ddu ville go to the librarybibliotek,
say, you'ddu ville go to PSPS10,
219
552680
2376
09:27
and you'ddu ville go insideinde.
220
555080
1216
og jeg ville gå indenfor.
09:28
There'dDer ville be balloonsballoner,
there'ddet røde be a studentstuderende ambassadorambassadør,
221
556320
2776
Der var balloner,
der var elevambassadører,
09:31
there'ddet røde be speechesindlæg that were readlæse,
222
559120
2136
der blev læst taler op,
09:33
poetrypoesi that was writtenskriftlig
specificallyspecifikt for the openingåbning,
223
561280
2896
der var poesi skrevet
til åbningen,
09:36
dignitarieshonoratiores would presenttil stede people
with certificatescertifikater,
224
564200
2936
dignitarer gav certifikater,
09:39
and the wholehel thing
was just a deliriousvildelse, funsjovt partyparti.
225
567160
2616
og det hele var bare en vild, sjov fest.
09:41
So I lovedelskede going to these things.
226
569800
1616
Så jeg elskede at tage til dem.
09:43
I would standstå there dressedklædt på like this,
obviouslynaturligvis not belongingtilhørsforhold,
227
571440
2976
Jeg stod der, klædt sådan her,
hørte tydeligvis ikke til,
09:46
and someonenogen would say,
"What are you doing here, mistermister?"
228
574440
2667
og nogen ville spørge,
"Hvad laver du her, herre?"
09:49
And I'd say, "Well, I'm parten del of the teamhold
that designeddesignet this placeplacere."
229
577131
3165
Og jeg sagde, "Jeg er en del af holdet,
der designede stedet."
Og de sagde, "Lavede du de her reoler?"
09:52
And they'dde ville said, "You do these shelveshylder?"
230
580320
1905
Jeg sagde, "Nej."
"Du tog billederne deroppe."
09:54
And I said, "No."
"You tooktog the picturesbilleder up aboveover."
231
582249
2407
"Nej."
09:56
"No."
232
584680
1216
"Jamen, hvad har du lavet?"
09:57
"Well, what did you do?"
233
585920
1216
"Du ved, da du kom ind?
Skiltet over døren?"
09:59
"You know when you camekom in?
The signskilt over the doordør?"
234
587160
2456
"Skiltet, der siger bibliotek?"
10:01
"The signskilt that sayssiger librarybibliotek?"
235
589640
1416
10:03
(LaughterLatter)
236
591080
1016
(Latter)
10:04
"Yeah, I did that!"
237
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1216
"Ja, det har jeg lavet!"
10:05
And then they'dde ville sortsortere of go,
"OK. NiceRar work if you can get it."
238
593360
4120
Og så blev de bare sådan,
"Okay. Godt arbejde, hvis du kan få det."
10:10
So it was so satisfyingopfylder
going to these little openingsåbninger
239
598200
4096
Så det var så tilfredsstillende
at tage til de her små åbninger,
10:14
despitepå trods af the factfaktum that I was
kindvenlig of largelyi det store hele ignoredignoreret or humiliatedydmyget,
240
602320
3736
trods at jeg var stort set ignoreret
eller ydmyget,
men det var faktisk sjovt
at tage til åbningerne,
10:18
but it was actuallyrent faktisk funsjovt
going to the openingsåbninger,
241
606080
2176
10:20
so I decidedbesluttede that I wanted
to get the people in my officekontor
242
608280
2696
så jeg besluttede, at jeg ville have
folkene ind på mit kontor,
10:23
who had workedarbejdet on these projectsprojekter,
get the illustratorsillustratorer and photographersfotografer,
243
611000
3456
der havde arbejdet på projekterne,
få illustratorerne og fotograferne,
og jeg sagde, hvorfor ikke leje en vogn,
10:26
and I said, why don't we rentleje a vanvan
244
614480
1696
10:28
and drivekøre around
the fivefem boroughsbydele of NewNye YorkYork
245
616200
2376
og køre rundt i de fem bydele i New York,
10:30
and see how manymange we could hithit at one time.
246
618600
2016
og se hvor mange, vi kunne nå på en gang.
10:32
And eventuallytil sidst there were
going to be 60 of these librariesbiblioteker,
247
620640
2856
Og med tiden ville der være 60
af de her biblioteker,
10:35
so we probablysandsynligvis got to see
maybe halfhalvt a dozendusin in one long day.
248
623520
3776
så vi kunne nok nå at se et halvt dusin
på en lang dag.
10:39
And the bestbedst thing of all
was meetingmøde these librariansbibliotekarer
249
627320
2936
Og det bedste var at møde alle
bibliotekarene,
10:42
who kindvenlig of were runningløb these,
tooktog possessionbesiddelse of these placessteder
250
630280
3576
som stod for driften,
og tog ejerskab af stederne
10:45
like theirderes privateprivat stagescene
upon whichhvilken they were invitedinviteret
251
633880
2576
som deres private scene,
hvorpå de var inviteret
10:48
to mesmerizetryllebinde theirderes studentsstuderende
and bringtage med the booksbøger to life,
252
636480
3936
til at fortrylle børnene
og bringe bøgerne til live.
10:52
and it was just
this really excitingspændende experienceerfaring
253
640440
2536
Og det var bare denne her
rigtig spændende oplevelse
10:55
for all of us to actuallyrent faktisk
see these things in actionhandling.
254
643000
2816
for os alle at se
de her ting i virkeligheden.
10:57
So we spentbrugt a long day doing this
255
645840
2536
Så vi brugte en lang dag på det,
11:00
and we were in the very last librarybibliotek.
256
648400
1816
og vi var i det allersidste bibliotek.
11:02
It was still wintervinter,
because it got darkmørk earlytidlig,
257
650240
2816
Det var stadig vinter,
så det blev mørkt tidligt,
11:05
and the librarianBibliotekar sayssiger,
258
653080
1216
og bibliotekaren sagde,
"Jeg er ved at lukke ned,
godt at se jer.
11:06
"I'm about to closetæt down.
So really nicepæn havingat have you here.
259
654320
2696
Vent et øjeblik, vil du se hvordan
jeg slukker lyset?"
11:09
Hey, wait a secondanden, do you want to see
how I turntur off the lightslys?"
260
657040
3136
Og jeg er sådan, "Okay."
11:12
I'm like, "OK."
261
660200
1296
Og hun siger, "Jeg har en speciel
måde at gøre det på"
11:13
And she said, "I have
this specialsærlig way that I do it."
262
661520
2496
Og så viste hun mig det.
11:16
And then she showedviste me.
263
664040
1256
Det, hun gjorde, var, at hun slukkede lysene
et ad gangen,
11:17
What she did was she turnedvendt out
everyhver lightlys one by one by one by one,
264
665320
3456
og det sidste lys, hun lod være tændt,
11:20
and the last lightlys she left on
265
668800
2056
11:22
was the lightlys that illuminatedbelyst
the kids'Kids' facesansigter,
266
670880
2896
var det, der oplyste børnenes ansigter,
11:25
and she said, "That's the last lightlys
I turntur off everyhver night,
267
673800
2856
og hun sagde, "Det er det sidste lys,
jeg slukker hver aften,
fordi jeg gerne vil mindes om,
hvorfor jeg kommer på arbejde."
11:28
because I like to remindminde om myselfMig selv
why I come to work."
268
676680
2576
Så da hele dette startede,
11:31
So when I startedstartede this wholehel thing,
269
679280
2856
11:34
rememberHusk, it was just
about designingdesigne that logologo
270
682160
2191
husk, det var bare om at designe et logo
og være smart ved at komme på et nyt navn?
11:36
and beingvære cleverdygtig, come up with a newny namenavn?
271
684375
2001
De utilsigtede konsekvenser her,
11:38
The unintendedutilsigtede consequencefølge here,
272
686400
1576
som jeg gerne ville tage æren for
11:40
whichhvilken I would like to take creditkredit for
273
688000
1816
og gerne tænker
at jeg kan tænke denne oplevelse igennem,
11:41
and like to think I can think throughigennem
the experienceerfaring to that extentgrad,
274
689840
3216
men det kan jeg ikke.
11:45
but I can't.
275
693080
1216
Jeg var fokuseret på en meter foran mig,
så langt jeg kunne nå med mine hænder.
11:46
I was just focusedfokuseret on a footfod aheadforan of me,
as farlangt as I could reach with my ownegen handshænder.
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3976
Istedet, langt ude i horisonten
11:50
InsteadI stedet, way off in the distanceafstand
277
698320
2576
var der en bibliotekar,
11:52
was a librarianBibliotekar
278
700920
1256
som fandt en kæde af konsekvenser,
11:54
who was going to find
the chainkæde of consequenceskonsekvenser
279
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2936
som vi havde sat igang,
11:57
that we had setsæt in motionbevægelse,
280
705160
1416
11:58
a sourcekilde of inspirationinspiration
281
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en kilde af inspiration
så hun i dette tilfælde kunne
udføre sig arbejde virkelig godt.
12:00
so that she in this casetilfælde
could do her work really well.
282
708120
3376
40.000 børn er hvert år påvirket
af de her biblioteker.
12:03
40,000 kidsbørn a yearår
are affectedpåvirket by these librariesbiblioteker.
283
711520
3376
De har været igang
i mere end 10 år nu,
12:06
They'veDe har been happeningsker
for more than 10 yearsflere år now,
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714920
2456
så de bibliotekarer
har vendt en generation af børn til bøger,
12:09
so those librariansbibliotekarer have kindvenlig of turnedvendt on
a generationgeneration of childrenbørn to booksbøger
285
717400
4536
så det har været spændende at finde ud af
12:13
and so it's been a thrillgys to find out
286
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2496
12:16
that sometimesSommetider unintendedutilsigtede consequenceskonsekvenser
are the bestbedst consequenceskonsekvenser.
287
724480
3736
at nogle gange er utilsigtede konsekvenser
de bedste konsekvenser.
12:20
Thank you very much.
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Mange tak!
12:21
(ApplauseBifald)
289
729480
3880
(Bifald)
Translated by Katharina Bille
Reviewed by Sune Vilsted

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michael Bierut - Designer, critic
Michael Bierut is a partner in the New York office of Pentagram, a founder of Design Observer and a teacher at Yale School of Art and Yale School of Management.

Why you should listen

Michael Bierut studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, graduating summa cum laude in 1980. Prior to joining Pentagram in 1990 as a partner in the firm's New York office, he worked for ten years at Vignelli Associates, ultimately as vice president of graphic design.

His projects at Pentagram have included work for the New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Harley-Davidson, The Museum of Arts and Design, Mastercard, the New York City Department of Transportation, the Robin Hood Foundation, Mohawk Paper Mills, New World Symphony, the New York Jets, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and MIT Media Lab. As a volunteer to Hillary for America, he created the ubiquitous H logo that was used throughout the 2016 presidential campaign.

He has won hundreds of design awards and his work is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal. He served as president of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) from 1988 to 1990 and is president emeritus of AIGA National. Bierut was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 1989, to the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 2003, and was awarded the profession’s highest honor, the AIGA Medal, in 2006. In 2008, he was named winner in the Design Mind category of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. In spring 2016, Bierut was appointed the Henry Wolf Graphic Designer in Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

Bierut is a senior critic in graphic design at the Yale School of Art and a lecturer at the Yale School of Management. He writes frequently about design and is the co-editor of the five-volume series Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design published by Allworth Press. In 2002, Bierut co-founded Design Observer, a blog of design and cultural criticism which now features podcasts on design, popular culture, and business.

Bierut's book 79 Short Essays on Design was published in 2007 by Princeton Architectural Press. A monograph on his work, How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make things look better, make people laugh, make people cry and (every once in a while) change the world, was published in 2015 by Thames & Hudson and Harper Collins. This accompanied the first retrospective exhibition of his work, part of the School of Visual Art's Masters Series, which was on view at the SVA Chelsea Gallery in New York City for five weeks in autumn 2015. His next book, Now You See It, is due out from Princeton Architectural Press this fall. 


More profile about the speaker
Michael Bierut | Speaker | TED.com

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