Michael Bierut (Pentagram) Keynote

[Before the talk, Peter Merholz plugged the Design Observer blog as a great resource; Bierut is a founder of Design Observer.]

There’s no possible way I can do this keynote justice (and I’ll say the same in my write-up of Jeff Veen’s Wednesday keynote. Michael ran though a whole PowerPoint deck that was absolutely killer. Very funny, geniune, insightful stuff from a man who is very smart. I captured a few notes, when I could; mostly, they focused on five points he wanted to stress to us, five points that, if we keep them in mind, can help us make a profound impact in our work.

1. Innovation is overrated. Design has to work within conventions to be usable.
2. You get power by giving away power.
3. The real opportunity may not be part of your scope of work. So go for it anyway.
4. Consistency does not equal sameness.
5. Take care of the experience and the brand will take care of itself.

Really powerful stuff. Here’s my thoughts:

1. Did you ever see one of those sculptures out in front of an art museum and had no idea what it was supposed to do? It’s great, it’s innovative, but sometimes you really just need a fountain. So make one.
2. One thing that hurts people more than anything is the misconception that "no one does it better than them and their way is right" Odds are, if you’re working with someone, they’ve been hired because they’re just as bright and talented as you. If if they’re just a rookie starting out, they deserve the opportunity to prove themselves. Give people a chance.
3. If you see it’s broken, fix it. If you think you’ll get in trouble for fixing it, fix it and see if anyone notices.
4. Great artists and designers and programmers and writers have a distinctive style. You can tell a Dickens book by reading a page or two, yet each book is a very different experience.
5. A brand is deeper than a logo. Think of Flickr: you think of a place where it’s fun to share photos, a place where you’ll probably see something brand new and then be wowed by something else. Oh yeah, there’s the r in their logo, too.

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