Doors and Perception

On this episode, Michael and Jessica discuss Michael Rock’s essay The Accidental Power of Design, which uses the national conversation around bathroom signs to talk about how design decisions made in the past get mistaken for the natural order. As Michael Bierut says:

People are using design decisions that used to be in the scope of work of specialists who were charged with putting signs on doors in public places. Now suddenly, that’s a place where people are expected to have an opinion.

They also debate Mozilla’s transparent revision of its brand identity, and whether “open process, not open design” is a healthy way to embrace design criticism as a spectator sport.

Also mentioned:

Roger Cook and Don Shanosky, AIGA Symbol Signs

Ellen Shapiro, To CertifyD, or Not to CertifyD? That Is the Question

Esteban Pérez-Hemminger, certifyD

Fast Company, Uh-Oh, Mozilla Is Open-Sourcing Its New Logo Design

Engadget, Brace yourselves for Browsey McBrowserface.

Mozilla logo explorations: Round 1; Round 2

The Guardian obituary for David King

David King, The Commissar Vanishes

Showtime, Masters of Sex

David Halberstam, The Fifties

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Also, Michael and Jessica have a new podcast coming, called The Design of Business | Business of Design, where they interview designers and clients about how they tackle real-world problems.

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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.