The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 30 with Designer, Educator & Writer Michael Bierut

Michael Bierut (@MichaelBierut) is one of today’s most renowned and respected graphic designers. Since 1990, he has been a Partner at Pentagram, where he works with clients like MIT Media Lab, The Yale School of Architecture, and the New York Jets. In addition to his work at Pentagram, he is a Senior Critic in Graphic Design at the Yale School of Art and co-founded the online publication Design Observer, where he writes about design and creative culture.

Together we discuss Michael’s feelings in becoming a business owner, how he divides work duties with his team, the clunky process of learning business skills as a young designer, and the exhaustive routines which power his morning. We also learn the 19-syllable-order Starbucks order he buys each working day, and how long it takes him to run 3 miles.

Read more about Michael via his lengthy biography on Pentagram’s website.

Show Notes & Links

• Pentagram’s New York Office, and its library, where we recorded this episode
  
  Michael Bierut in the Pentagram Library. Image via The Architectural League of NY
• Michael [still] thinks of himself as a “working graphic designer”
• Michael’s previous — and only — employers were Massimo & Lella Vignelli
  
• As a young designer, he “never spent a minute lying in bed wondering if a client was going to pay an overdue invoice.”
• Michael writes his own proposals; there is no “behemoth” behind the scenes
• “I thought I was ready to be a business owner, but I really didn’t know much about it.” ← Click to tweet
• Pentagram Partners “really like to do the work.”
• Michael currently works with 6 designers, 2 project managers, and 2 interns.
• “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” ← Click to tweet
• Teaching business skills to designers isn’t “baked in” to Pentagram’s ethos, but it happens through close collaboration
• Without cultural context, working as a designer can be a “long road to carpal tunnel syndrome.”
• Knopf Doubleday, publisher
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• New York Times
• “The world we live in was created by people no smarter than us.” —Prescott mis-quoting Steve Jobs ← Click to tweet
• “Designers are actors playing a part. We have to learn about X and show the world X.” ← Click to tweet
• Michael is a Lazy Designer
• “The time I invest [in proposals] is always intense and personal.” ← Click to tweet
• Michael’s famous sketchbooks notebooks. Currently working with #104.
• Make It Bigger by Paula Scher
  

Tools

• Marble composition notebooks
• Venti Triple Non-Fat Cappuccino from Starbucks

Techniques

• Oversee a single designer, bring on a second only if you need it
• Keep your pitches/responses to briefs short but purposeful. Don’t participate in theatrics.
• Ponder a problem during your morning run. Solve it during that time.

Habits

• Wake up early (5:15a–5:35a)
• Jog 3 miles every morning
• Use vacations as a time to focus on a particular project
• Build writing into your routine. Chunk it down and don’t give yourself a chance to escape.

Get The Episode

• Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 30
  (MP3, 53:14, 25.8 MB)
• Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 30
  (OGG, 53:14, 47.2 MB)

Subscribe to The Busy Creator Podcast on iTunes

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