Tag Archives: solution

I’ve blogged previously about my belief in design simplicity. I came across this video on Behance yesterday. Michael Bierut is an awesome designer. If you’ve been to New York you may have seen his striking signage for the New York Times Offices. I was struck by how simple, and yet how effective his design solution is. Click on the pictures and see for yourself. Interestingly, that part of New York has a zoning law stipulating that buildings must have large signs. Michael’s challenge was to display the iconic NYT logo, minimise signage weight, and still allow natural light into the NYT offices. In the video Michael explains how this prompted his reflections on design simplicity. I was struck by his belief that the solution lies in the problem. This made me consider my own design solutions and the importance of listening to the client and understanding their needs and constraints. I am careful to spend as much time as I can at the start of my design process listening, observing and understanding. I’ll write more about this in a subsequent post. But for now enjoy Michael’s presentation (it’s worth the whole 18 mins!). For more of Michael’s work go to Pentagram and Designobserver.

Click here for video