Working at the United Nations, there’s a tendency to relegate design to “making things pretty” or as a last resort in a communication plan, where presentation and usability (i.e. design) take a backseat in a lot of cases to other more “important” work. When in actual fact, having a clear plan, strategy, content and design are all one in the same where each part has a purpose. For example, having great content doesn’t necessarily mean people will pay attention, and designing something without content and knowledge (“the meat”) just doesn’t work.
Design is about how something looks and functions, as well as a way of thinking that can impact our lives – look at how the above photo of the ribbed vault in the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque is both beautiful and functional or watch the below interview with graphic designer Michael Bierut on his mentor Massimo Vignelli and logo design.
“What people don’t understand, and I think some designers don’t understand, designers only make a vessel to hold things that have to be filled in over time… It’s just a newborn, it doesn’t know nothing. We don’t even really know what’s it’s going to look like when it grows up. And thus it also is with symbols and logos too.”
One of the most interesting points in the 7-minute video is where Beirut talks about how Vignelli saw the chance to design the iconic signage for the New York subway as “the opportunity to do something of consequence”.
This video is part of a documentary series called the Creative Influence, which gives a cinematic look into the lives and work of creative professionals and how they find inspiration from the world they live in.
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