Michael Bierut, Jessica Helfand|Audio
January 21, 2016
Working-Class Heroes
Alan Rickman worked as a graphic designer before becoming an actor. David Bowie studied layout and typesetting before becoming, well, David Bowie. On this episode, Michael and Jessica discuss the British art school tradition and the difference it made for so many.
“Rickman, Bowie, John Lennon, Keith Richards. A whole long list of people were able to go through a trap door and end up in a completely different world.”
Also mentioned:
Join Design Observer for Taste, a symposium on food and visual culture at the Los Angeles Theater Center on February 12.
Subscribe to The Observatory on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, or follow Design Observer on Soundcloud.
Observed
View all
Observed
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.
Related Posts
Civic Life
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte
Design of Business | Business of Design
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri
Design of Business | Business of Design
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Making Space: Jon M. Chu on Designing Your Own Path
Recent Posts
Why scaling back on equity is more than risky — it’s economically irresponsible Beauty queenpin: ‘Deli Boys’ makeup head Nesrin Ismail on cosmetics as masks and mirrors Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte Mine the $3.1T gap: Workplace gender equity is a growth imperative in an era of uncertaintyRelated Posts
Civic Life
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte
Design of Business | Business of Design
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Business
Ellen McGirt|Audio
Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri
Design of Business | Business of Design
Ellen McGirt|Audio