Michael Bierut

By: Lexi Woodcock

Michael Bierut
- Born in 1957
- Grew up in Cleveland, Ohio
- Studied Graphic Design at U of
Cincinnati’s College of Design,
Architecture, Art and Planning
- Graduated in 1980
Michael Bierut
- Teaches and critics graphic design at Yale
- Worked at Vignelli Associates for 10 years
- Joined Pentagram in 1990
- President of New York Chapter of the
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)
for 10 years
- Currently the President of AIGA National
- Has won many awards for his design work
- The guy behind some of “pick up your
dog’s poop” signs
Dog Poop Signs
Wait Until Dark
- First ever design he created was in high
school
- The poster is a black and white illustration
that he stippled onto a piece of cardboard
with black pen

“It was so much better than the still life of a dish

of fruit I had done that was sitting in a display
case being ignored,” he says. “This had
purpose.”
The Logo that Started it All
- Saw the logo on a side of a truck
- Dad pointed it out to him and taught him
to appreciate the logo

“That interplay of lettering and a word, and what

the word stood for and the idea behind what it
stood for… It just seemed like a really powerful
thing to me, and that’s just five letters!”
Famous Work
- Most famous work is Hillary Clinton’s 2016
campaign logo
- He volunteered to be apart of Clinton’s
communications team for her campaign
- Him and his team worked in secret for 2
months because no one knew she was
running
 "We had spent months developing a
logo; Trump had spent years building a
brand."
Bierut’s Monograph
- 35 years of his work as a graphic designer
- Featuring 36 case studies that cover the
creation of all types of work, from identity,
logos and branding to environmental
graphics, packaging, books and websites,
many times all in one project.
How to
Rebranded
Popular
Sources
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/03/30/michael-bierut-pentagram-hillary-clinton-us-presidential-cam
paign-logo-design-concerns/

https://www.pentagram.com/about/michael-bierut

https://www.pentagram.com/work/how-to

https://www.wired.com/2015/10/famed-designer-michael-bierut-doesnt-believe-in-creativity/

https://designerd.info/features/michael-bierut-how-to-approach-design/