Q&A with Debbie Millman: author, educator and host of Design M... https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/our-community/debbie-millman-in...

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Q&A with Debbie Millman: author,

educator and host of Design Matters
By Liz Armistead

Published on September 20, 2017

Photo by Andria Lavine

As a designer, artist, author, educator, and host

of Design Matters, the first and longest-running
podcast on design, Debbie Millman has been
called “one of the most creative people working

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in business” by Fast Company.

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Filed under Made in Dropbox , Our Community

We caught up with Debbie at the opening of Text Me: How We Live in

Language, an exhibit she’s curating at The Museum of Design Atlanta
through February 2, 2018. As proud sponsors of the show, we wanted
to chat with her about the inspiration behind the exhibit, the
collaborators who helped bring it to life, and her work with Alina
Wheeler on the new edition of the book, Designing Brand Identity.

Could you tell us more about Text Me? What’s the show about?

Text in all of its visual forms impacts our world today. From social
media to tattoos to way-finding signage to fine art, fast-moving
consumer goods, clothing, household goods and decoration, bold
typographic expression has become the cultural currency of
communication and the centerpiece of connection.

Humans have used language to pass on knowledge, beliefs, values,

secrets and information throughout history. Through language we
explain how things are, why they are, and our role and purpose.
Language is the building block of knowledge and the foundation of
memory and learning. It connects us with our humanness and links
past, present, and future by sharing all of the possible consequences
and outcomes of our behavior and actions.

The individual component of language—text—is the prime vehicle

used to express the experiences of our existence—from minor
moments of daily life to the grand nature of the human condition. Our
ancestors as far back as the cave man have been using symbols to
document and record experiences.

Today, the visualization of our personal stories is an integral and

essential part of nearly every moment of life, and we use text in all of
its forms to define reality, emotions and even time itself. We are now
living in a world wherein the condition of our visual communication
reflects the condition of our culture.

This exhibition is an attempt to organize, express, translate and

reflect both how we live in language and how language now defines
our lives.

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The Author

Liz Armistead

Liz Armistead leads the Brand and Influencer Partnerships team at Dropbox,
responsible for large scale sponsorships and influencer activations around the world.
She’s led programs at the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Cannes Lions, Toronto Film
Festival, Semi Permanent, and many others, and has worked with countless
influencers in music, film, fashion, art and design.

Filed Under

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