Episode 48: Lella and La La

On this episode, Michael and Jessica remember John Berger, who was best known for Ways of Seeing, a BBC television series with a companion book designed by Richard Hollis. Michael says:

I remember being assigned this book in college in the 70s and thinking it was hideous.… Now I think it’s brilliant and it actually seems prescient and has been extraordinarily influential.

There are at least two or three occasions in my life where I’ve just been up against a combination of text and images and I’ve said — often to a younger designer I’m working with who may not even know the reference — I’ll say, “Oh to hell with it, let’s just do it like Ways of Seeing.”

Also mentioned:

New York Times obituary for Lella Vignelli

Geoff Dyer, Olivia Laing, Ali Smith, and Simon McBurney remember John Berger

trailers for Jackie and La La Land

Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, and Donald O’Connor, Good Morning

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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.