{"id":2887,"date":"2023-06-13T19:14:54","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T19:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/?p=2887"},"modified":"2024-09-03T16:15:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:15:15","slug":"into-the-mind-of-michael-bierut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/into-the-mind-of-michael-bierut","title":{"rendered":"Into the mind of designer &#038; educator, Michael Bierut"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video interviewee-picture\"><video autoplay loop muted src=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/bierut.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you're part of the design world or not, you've seen Michael Bierut's designs. As a partner at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pentagram.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pentagram<\/a>, he's worked on everything from the logo for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign to the redesign of <em>The Atlantic<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We've long respected Bierut for his voice and leadership in design, so we were curious to know what's been on his mind of late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s the best compliment you received recently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This very morning a stranger told me I looked like James Bond. I was wearing a dark suit and dark glasses, but otherwise I assure you that I look like no incarnation of James Bond that I know of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s the last thing you read?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Free-World-Art-Thought-Cold\/dp\/0374158452\" target=\"_blank\">\"The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War\"<\/a> by Louis Menand<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_ax59j2p7m\">Click the + button in your browser while viewing the book to save it to your mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What book do you want to read next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Trust-Hernan-Diaz\/dp\/0593420314\">\"Trust\"<\/a> by Hernan Diaz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_ax59j2p7m\">Search any word from a book title or author to find it later in your mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">A quote that\u2019s meaningful to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-custom_2ckfb3b91\">\u201cThe sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if our spontaneous cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully, to look round cheerfully, and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there. If such conduct does not make you soon feel cheerful, nothing else on that occasion can.\u201d - William James<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left is-style-custom_ax59j2p7m\">Highlight the text, quotation marks included, to save it to your mind as a quote.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Yes, I know this is a recipe for self-delusion.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">Best gift you\u2019ve ever given?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am a notoriously horrible gift-giver \u2013 ask my wife who has been variously disappointed and puzzled at my surprises over the past 43 years. She, on the other hand, is a fantastic gift-giver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">Where do you want to travel to next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cape May Point, New Jersey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What would you buy, if money weren\u2019t an issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clevelandart.org\/art\/1967.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Accent Grave by Franz Kline, 1955<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What hobby would you take up, if you had the time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bird watching<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s an image or piece of art you can\u2019t get out of your head?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently had to look up <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QLDqlgRK100\" target=\"_blank\">James Jamerson\u2019s isolated bass guitar track<\/a> for the 1967 Four Tops song, \u201cBernadette.\u201d I first heard it years ago in a documentary about the Funk Brothers, the legendary Motown backup band, and I never forgot it. Jamerson is a genius and his work is behind (or beneath) every Motown song you\u2019ve ever loved. It was as good as I remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">Any product of any kind you\u2019re appreciating lately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A year or so ago, I put my vanity aside, succumbed to my audiologist\u2019s advice, and finally got hearing aids. They have changed my life. I had heard that a lot of the problems associated with aging (like disengagement, confusion and even forgetfulness) can be related to hearing loss. Now I believe it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked my doctor for the closest thing to \u201cwhat if Apple designed hearing aids\u201d and she prescribed a brand called Oticon. They are discreet, lightweight, elegant and even have a surprise Bluetooth function so I can listen to podcasts undetected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">The funniest thing you\u2019ve seen lately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coming out of \u201cSuccession,\u201d I found a number of discussion groups where people were recommending shows that might fill the void. A number of people suggested a late-20-teens spy dramedy I had never, ever, even remotely heard of called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4687882\/\">\u201cPatriot.\"<\/a> I started watching and it is now my new favorite show. There are harrowing scenes of violence in beautiful world capitals, but the best part is watching the protagonist desperately cling to his cover identity as a midwestern businessman. I won\u2019t go into details, but trust me, you will never think of industrial piping the same way again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_ax59j2p7m\">Click the + button in your browser to save the link to your mind as TV series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2698<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you&#8217;re part of the design world or not, you&#8217;ve seen Michael Bierut&#8217;s designs. As a partner at Pentagram, he&#8217;s worked on everything from the logo for Hillary Clinton&#8217;s 2016 presidential campaign to the redesign of The Atlantic magazine. We&#8217;ve long respected Bierut for his voice and leadership in design, so we were curious to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-2887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thoughts","tag-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2887"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3750,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2887\/revisions\/3750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}