Rooting for Michael B.

[Alyson Kuhn] Last night, I got to hear Michael Bierut speak at an AIGA Philadelphia event at Moore College of Art & Design. Michael was the final speaker in the chapter’s 2009 Community Choice Lecture Series. I’ll get all the wordplay right out of the way: I felt the wire couldn’t have been higher. I had great expectations for Michael’s talk… and they were handily and humorously exceeded. I’ll skip the multisyllabic superlatives and simply say that I loved, loved, LOVED his presentation. Which turned out to be a double feature!

It’s true. Michael announced that he had two possible presentations: an in-depth case study of a single project, or a quantity-overview of a lot of projects. Consistent with Community Choice, we had a show of hands. The voting was so close that a second round was called for. Michael simply said that he would do both… for people who could stay until, oh, midnight.

He started with the quantity overview, titled My Life as a Font: 26 Years, 26 Projects. He worked his way through the alphabet, previewing each project with a single letter, so that the audience could guess the font. The next shot announced the project, the font, its designer, and the year in which it was created. There was a font from the 1400s, whose name I cannot recall; I think the newest was Trajan {1989}. Then: several images of the font in action on a wide range of applications, from tiny type to environmental graphics to the side of an airplane. It was all fontastic, the work as well as Michael’s typographic asides.

Act II: A very long-term – we are talking multi-year – pro-bono project Michael undertook for the public schools in New York City, to provide a graphic identity for their libraries, which were being re-designed. I suspect this was The Real Presentation, because it included five “lessons” of things Michael learned during the project, starting with the seemingly most obvious: Make sure you understand the project. Which he didn’t. Ultimately, an unexpected phone call from one of the schools provided The Big Idea. At first, it sounded like a case of scope creep…

The bookcases in the library would be 6′ tall, but the ceilings in the room were 12′ tall. Did Michael have any thoughts as to what could be done with the upper 6′ of wall space? Aha. Michael enlisted Dorothy, his wife, to take photos of the children, which became mega-murals around the room. Michael then approached illustrators and designers {Stefan Sagmeister, Maira Kalman, among others} to do reading-themed art installations for the libraries at other schools. The librarians turned out to be the key audience – the children only see the libraries at their own schools, whereas the librarians move around. One of them commented to Michael, “When I turn out the lights at the end of the day, the last one I turn out is the switch illuminating the children’s faces.” The delight and insight with which Michael related his extraordinary tale gave us all a little glimpse of his design soul. His delivery was reflective rather than self-deprecating, and I would attend a repeat performance at any opportunity.

After the applause: Q&A. The questions were above average; the answers were thoughtful and generous. Then, The Raffle {magenta tickets that look so lovely in my orange mesh billfold, I think I’ll keep them there}. Then, The Book-signing. Then, dessert and coffee. And what a Springily-dressed crowd, on the loveliest evening imaginable. When I complimented Robert Whyte on his sport shirt, he told me that he had screen-printed it himself, about 20 years ago, as part of a limited edition. It was in excellent condition, so I’m guessing that he only wears it on special occasions. Which this certainly was.

Event photos: Sam Fritch Photography