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, American Airlines, 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

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Show Notes & Links

• Pentagram’s New York Office, and its library, where we recorded this episode
  
  
  

  Michael Bierut in the Pentagram Library



• Michael [still] thinks of himself as a “working graphic designer”


• Michael’s previous — and only — employers were Massimo & Lella Vignelli
  
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• As a young designer, he “never spent a minute lying in bed wondering if a client was going to pay an 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.”

—Michael Bierut

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• 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.”

—African proverb

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• 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.”

—Steve Jobs

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“Designers are actors playing a part. We have to learn about X and show the world X.”

—Michael Bierut

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• Michael is a Lazy Designer

“The time I invest in proposals is always intense and personal.”

—Michael Bierut

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• Michael’s famous sketchbooks notebooks. Currently working with #104.


• Make It Bigger by Paula Scher on Amazon
  

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 (5:15 a–5:35 a)


• 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.

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