Episode 53: On Writing Well

The 2017 Design in Tech report emphasized that writing is an essential skill for designers. How do designers hone their writing skills? Michael and Jessica talk about some of their favorite guides, including William Zinsser’s On Writing Well; Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird; and the New Yorker magazine.

Also mentioned:

Michael on 99 Percent Invisible

Jarrett Fuller, Scratching the Surface

Malcolm Gladwell, Revisionist History

Karina Longworth, You Must Remember This

The Moth podcast

Anna Sale, Death, Sex & Money

Jessica on Doubleday’s Dan Brown cover contest

Fast Company, Why Are Designers Still Expected To Work For Free?

John Langdon’s ambigrams

DJ Stout, Dairy Today

Fast Company, A Reading Guide For Designers Who Want To Write

The Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened

Wes Anderson, Bar Luce

David Rockwell on The Design of Business | The Business of Design podcast

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By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.