Michael Bierut

Bierut has said that he learned the name “graphic design” at age fifteen after finding a book by S. Neil Fujita in a school library, and later researched the subject at a public library in Ohio.¹ He has described two early books, by Milton Glaser and Armin Hofmann, as seemingly opposed in approach.¹

According to Pentagram, Bierut’s first job after graduation was with Lella and Massimo Vignelli.^1,2 He joined Pentagram’s New York office as a partner in 1990.^1,4 Bierut has said he began at Pentagram with no clients or team and was 33 at the time.⁴

Pentagram describes him as a graphic designer for nearly fifty years.² According to Pentagram, Bierut’s clients have included Mastercard, Slack, Verizon, Disney, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and MIT Media Lab.² He designed the Mastercard logo, the “H” logo for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and building signage for The New York Times.⁴ Bierut has said he has taken part in meetings with The New York Times, a presidential candidate and a university laboratory despite not having those professional backgrounds.⁴

Bierut was elected to the Alliance Graphique Internationale in 1989, entered the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 2003, and received the AIGA Medal in 2006.² His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper Hewitt, the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Denver Art Museum.^3,5 According to Eye on Design, Bierut served as president of the national board of directors for AIGA.⁵

The AIGA Design Archives contain more than 100 works by Bierut.⁵ AIGA Eye on Design described him as a “designer’s designer” and characterized his clientele as often including design organizations, museums and architects.⁵

According to Pentagram, he co-edited the five-volume Looking Closer series and co-founded Design Observer.² According to Design Indaba, a book examining 35 of Bierut’s projects, including preparatory sketches, was published in September 2015.^5,6

Bierut has said that design audiences are becoming more sophisticated and that designers who underestimate public taste will be punished.⁵ He has also said the public will not tell designers how to change their minds.³ He has cited the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock cover, designed by Martyl, as an example of a client trusting a designer without a detailed briefing.³

Bierut has said he found himself becoming more calculating and artificial in his work.⁴ He has said that he is not an MBA, but is married to one, and described himself as a quick study and a fairly good mimic.⁴ He has advised sharing a project’s central idea with a team and giving its members substantial responsibility, saying this can benefit their development as designers and thinkers.⁴

The Creative Factor reported that about 35 years after Bierut joined Pentagram, he again had no clients or team members; the cited profile excerpt does not explain the circumstances.⁴ The same profile stated that Pentagram had 24 partners.⁴