Michael Bierut

Michael Bierut|Essays

To Hell with the Simple Paper Clip

Answering the question "What's your favorite designed object?" with something humble and anonymous may be a tiresome cliche, but it's one that resonates with editors of the New York Times Magazine and curators at the Museum of Modern Art.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Ed Ruscha: When Art Rises to the Level of Graphic Design

A retrospective of the drawings of Ed Ruscha raises the question: is he an artist or a graphic designer?

Michael Bierut|Essays

And the Gold Award for Design Goes to God

New NASA images of the planet Saturn reveal it to be a beautifully designed object.

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Tyranny of the Tagline

Here are some thoughts from a few magazines on my nightstand right now: This is who we are. This is how we earn it. Solutions for the adaptive enterprise. The right way to invest. We move the world. Life inspiring ideas. Inspiration comes …

Michael Bierut|Essays

Barthes on the Ballpoint

"Ballpoint" is an exhibition at London's Pentagram Gallery organized by my partner Angus Hyland and featuring the work of "artists, illustrators and designers invited to make an artwork using only ballpont pen." The participants include …

Michael Bierut|Essays

The Idealistic Corporation

American corporations in the mid-twentieth century, such as IBM, Container Corporation, and General Dynamics, worked with designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Herbert Bayer and Erik Nitsche in the conviction that design was not only a …

Michael Bierut|Essays

McSweeney's No. 13 and the Revenge of the Nerds

McSweeney's No. 13, published by Dave Eggers and guest edited by Chris Ware, is a masterwork of publication design and an invaluable survey of today's best comic artists and graphic novelists.

Michael Bierut|Essays

India Switches Brands

The 2004 elections in India were an exercise in branding as well as politics, as a well-funded "India Shining" campaign failed to convince the electorate to retain the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

Michael Bierut|Essays

Better Nation Building Through Design

A new flag design for Iraq may inadvertantly symbolize much of what is misguided in the US's occupation of that country.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Catharsis, Salesmanship, and the Limits of Empire

Nozone #9: Empire and a new promotional campaign for the radio station Air America demonstrate alternate ways that graphic design can engage political issues and their audiences.

Michael Bierut|Essays

I Hear You’ve Got Script Trouble: The Designer as Auteur

Screenwriter William Goldman has written about how difficult it is to ascribe authorship for a film. The same may be true for graphic design, which, like filmmaking, is essentially a collaborative activity.

Michael Bierut|Essays

Stanley Kubrick and the Future of Graphic Design

Stanley Kubrick's attention to the nuances of graphic design, typography, and branding went far beyond his well-documented obsession with Futura Extra Bold. 2001: A Space Odyssey in particular projects a perfectly designed vision of the …