Michael Bierut’s 5 Secrets of Design

by Brian Ling (aka. The Design Translator) on 6 November, 2009 - 21:51

Michael Bierut of Pentagram and Design Observer fame, has shared some of his words of wisdom collected through his years as a designer. He digs through his 86 notebooks filled with his design work, and distills his thoughts down to 5 awesome design secrets.

If you don’t have the time to watch the 19 minute video, check out Michael’s 5 secrets which I have reproduced below.

1) Listen first, then design

2) Don’t avoid the obvious

3) The problem contains the solution

4) Indulge your obsessions

5) Love is the answer

What I also found particularly interesting was how Michael started his talk by claiming that he is not creative at all. (Shock, horror!) He then goes on to describe himself more like a “doctor” waiting for “patients” to come to him with design problems to solve. This echos my believe that design or creativity cannot exist in a vacuum.

Via: Behance’s 99% Conference

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulworthington/82648235/in/photostream/

Original Post: http://www.designsojourn.com/michael-bieruts-5-secrets-of-design/