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The Opposite of Ugly

On this episode, Jessica and Michael discuss what graphic designers define and wrestle with ugliness. Unpacking the subtitle of his new book, Michael explains that

If you use graphic design to sell something, you can tell whether it worked because, did someone buy it? If you use it to explain things, that’s easy to tell whether it worked, because now does the person understand it? But then “make things look better”: I actually think that’s a really important thing that designers do, and yet that’s the one indeed that has no test. Because what looks good to you may not look good to me…

Also mentioned:

  • Milton Glaser, Graphic Design
  • New York Times obituary for John Berg
  • Chicago album cover gallery
  • Album covers by Roger Dean, Neon Park, Mati Klarwein, Pedro Bell
  • Kathryn Hughes reviews Gretchen E. Henderson’s Ugliness: A Cultural History
  • Thomas Watson, Good Design Is Good Business

    Thanks to Blurb for sponsoring this episode. 

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