Episode 50: What Democracy Looks Like

On this episode, Michael and Jessica talk about the visual language of the Women’s March and resistance to President Trump. The individual ingenuity of protestors, Michael says, contains

a lesson for “professional” graphic designers. We define our own success so frequently on, did we get everything to line up perfectly? And in this case, lining up perfectly wasn’t as effective as having everything just explode in a million flowers.

Also mentioned:

Microcritique: Michael Rock on branding politics and the politics of branding
Parker Palmer and the Center for Courage and Renewal
Brian Grubb reviews the Young Pope
Edie, by Jean Stein, edited with George Plimpton
Shareen Pathak, The Definitive Oral History of the Oreo tweet
Charlotte McCourt reviews the Toffee-tastic

Subscribe to The Observatory on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, or follow Design Observer on Soundcloud.

Observed

View all

Jobs

View all

Share on Social

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.