Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching To Inform and Delight, a documentary about one of the most prolific graphic designers and advertisers of our time. If you’re curious about how and why certain ads take off and become ingrained in our culture, I highly recommend this film. Before I saw it, I didn’t think I was familiar with the name “Milton Glaser.” But about 5 minutes into it I realized that I recognized the majority of his work, including the iconic “I Love NY” ad campaign, as well as his psychedelic Bob Dylan poster. In fact, there were few projects shown in the film that I hadn’t seen at some point or another. His work spans all media—advertising, logos, packaging, illustrations, newspapers, posters, books, albums and even interior design and architecture (including the layouts for supermarkets). He left no artistic venue unexplored. His portfolio is truly legendary.
You’d think a man with so many famous projects under his belt might be a little bit pompous, but he’s actually quite the opposite. The documentary paints a portrait of a man who is compassionate, endearing, and humble. He seems confident, but never cocky, and happy to help others by sharing his timeless advice. It’s clear that this is a man who didn’t set out to hit it big, but ended up with an extremely successful career because of a sheer talent for communicating with people visually.
You’d think a man with so many famous projects under his belt might be a little bit pompous, but he’s actually quite the opposite. The documentary paints a portrait of a man who is compassionate, endearing, and humble. He seems confident, but never cocky, and happy to help others by sharing his timeless advice. It’s clear that this is a man who didn’t set out to hit it big, but ended up with an extremely successful career because of a sheer talent for communicating with people visually.
The title of the film comes from a quotation that Glaser found while searching for a “proper definition” of art. While he concedes that there is not one standard definition, he says that this quote from Horace --“the purpose of art is to inform and delight”— encapsulates his personal aesthetic.
I also found it interesting how Glaser reflected on his first company, Push Pin Graphics. He sounded nostalgic and proud, but also somewhat annoyed when describing it. He called the company, “the epitome of fun in design” and said that it, “opened the door to eclecticism in a way that no other firm had done,” but then added that “the company’s success defined us too much…Push Pin became a style, and I don’t trust styles. I had to redefine myself.” This is the exact opposite of what I would expect to hear from such a profound graphic designer, a man who practically creates ‘styles’ for a living…and it’s even more ironic when you consider that he is credited with creating and popularizing the graphic style “Psychedelia” in the 1960s, the most distinct style of the era .
Perhaps his aversion to style is really more of an aversion to being "typecast," so to speak, for a specific type of style. Although, with his accomplishments, I don't think he's in any danger of being seen as repetitive any time soon.
I also found it interesting how Glaser reflected on his first company, Push Pin Graphics. He sounded nostalgic and proud, but also somewhat annoyed when describing it. He called the company, “the epitome of fun in design” and said that it, “opened the door to eclecticism in a way that no other firm had done,” but then added that “the company’s success defined us too much…Push Pin became a style, and I don’t trust styles. I had to redefine myself.” This is the exact opposite of what I would expect to hear from such a profound graphic designer, a man who practically creates ‘styles’ for a living…and it’s even more ironic when you consider that he is credited with creating and popularizing the graphic style “Psychedelia” in the 1960s, the most distinct style of the era .
Perhaps his aversion to style is really more of an aversion to being "typecast," so to speak, for a specific type of style. Although, with his accomplishments, I don't think he's in any danger of being seen as repetitive any time soon.
His portfolio is filled with demonstrations of the power of advertisements, probably the most well-known being his complete turn-around of New York City’s image with the I heart NY campaign. The story is truly incredible: In the mid-1970s when New York was on the verge of bankruptcy, Mr. Glaser was asked to create a campaign that would rebuild the city’s image from crime-ridden and dangerous back to a beautiful hub of civilization. Less than a year after his “I heart NY” campaign launched, New York saw the biggest boost to the tourism industry they’d seen in decades, and their economy boomed as a result. Of course, we can’t give all the credit to Milton Glaser, but I think it’s safe to say that the “I heart NY” campaign had something to do with it.
While his accomplishments are jaw dropping and numerous, the real takeaway of the film for me comes from the random nuggets of wisdom that are scattered throughout his narration. Here are some of my favorites:
And this final piece of advice is what really stuck with me: “pursue creative hobbies that bring you satisfaction.” He says the trick is to find ways to incorporate the things you love to do into the things you have to do (he did this by using his love of food as the inspiration for different advertising concepts).
Although the idea of “doing what you love” may seem like a trite concept, it really stood out to me in this context. It’s easy to get so caught up in our responsibilities that we forget to enjoy life, but the smart way to avoid burning out is by making sure that your responsibilities are things you enjoy doing. Luckily for me, advertising is a fun and rewarding creative outlet for me, the same way that design is a creative outlet for Mr. Glaser.
While his accomplishments are jaw dropping and numerous, the real takeaway of the film for me comes from the random nuggets of wisdom that are scattered throughout his narration. Here are some of my favorites:
- “Art has no real meaning other than what each generation assigns to it—it’s only purpose is to create commonalities between different groups of people, because without mutual interests, we’d kill each other.”
- “A smart strategy is to create work that appeals to the problem-solving part of the brain by creating simple visual puzzles.”
- “Everything is related to its opposite—light requires darkness; truth needs lies.”
- “It’s good to explore the spiritual side of life, but hold your beliefs lightly.”
- “Design is not a service; it’s a cultural value.”
And this final piece of advice is what really stuck with me: “pursue creative hobbies that bring you satisfaction.” He says the trick is to find ways to incorporate the things you love to do into the things you have to do (he did this by using his love of food as the inspiration for different advertising concepts).
Although the idea of “doing what you love” may seem like a trite concept, it really stood out to me in this context. It’s easy to get so caught up in our responsibilities that we forget to enjoy life, but the smart way to avoid burning out is by making sure that your responsibilities are things you enjoy doing. Luckily for me, advertising is a fun and rewarding creative outlet for me, the same way that design is a creative outlet for Mr. Glaser.
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