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Michael Bierut, Jessica Helfand|Audio

March 30, 2017

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 is an artist and writer based in New England. A former critic at Yale School of Art and one of the founding editors of Design Observer, she is the author of several books on visual culture including Self Reliance, Design: The Invention of Desire, and Face: A Visual Odyssey. jessicahelfand.com

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