79 Short Essays on Design

79

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? 2007 Princeton Architectural Press All rights reserved Printed and bound in China 10 09 08 07 4 3 2 First edition

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Editor: Lauren Nelson Packard Designer: Abbott Miller, Pentagram

Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Sara Bader, Dorothy Ball, Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning, Becca Casbon, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Russell Fernandez, Pete Fitzpatrick, Wendy Fuller, Sara Hart, Jan Haux, Clare Jacobson, John King, Mark Lamster, Nancy Eklund Later, Linda Lee, Katharine Myers, Scott Tennent, Jennifer Thompson, Paul Wagner, Joseph Weston, and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press --Kevin C. Lippert, publisher

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bierut, Michael. Seventy-nine short essays on design / Michael Bierut. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-56898-699-9 (alk. paper) 1. Commercial art--United States--History--20th century. 2. Graphic arts--United States--History-- 20th century. I. Title. II. Title: 79 short essays on design. NC998.5.A1B52 2007 741.6--dc22 2006101224

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

Michael Bierut

Princeton Architectural Press New York

"Art should be like a good game of baseball--nonmonumental, democratic and humble. With no hits, no runs, and no errors at the bottom of the ninth, we know something historical is happening. Good art leaves no residue."

Siah Armajani, 1985

"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter."

Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) to Wilmer Cook (Elijah Cook, Jr.) in The Maltese Falcon, screenplay by John Huston from the novel by Dashiell Hammett, 1941

Contents

9 Preface

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

11 Warning: May Contain Non-Design Content 14 Why Designers Can't Think 18 Waiting for Permission 23 How to Become Famous 28 In Search of the Perfect Client 32 Histories in the Making 35 Playing by Mr. Rand's Rules 39 David Carson and the End of Print 42 Rob Roy Kelly's Old, Weird America 44 My Phone Call to Arnold Newman 46 Howard Roark Lives 49 The Real and the Fake 52 Ten Footnotes to a Manifesto 61 The New York Times: Apocalypse Now, Page A1 63 Graphic Design and the New Certainties 65 Mark Lombardi and the Ecstasy of Conspiracy 67 George Kennan and the Cold War Between Form and Content 70 Errol Morris Blows Up Spreadsheet, Thousands Killed 72 Catharsis, Salesmanship, and the Limits of Empire 75 Better Nation-Building Through Design 77 The T-shirt Competition Republicans Fear Most 79 India Switches Brands 81 Graphic Designers, Flush Left? 84 Just Say Yes 87 Regrets Only 91 The Forgotten Design Legacy of the National Lampoon 93 McSweeney's No. 13 and the Revenge of the Nerds 96 The Book (Cover) That Changed My Life

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