01.31.20
Michael Bierut + Jessica Helfand | Audio

Episode 119: Soldiers and Generals


This week, Michael and Jessica discuss Don Norman’s recent article in Fast Company about the one skill designers need to develop most in 2020: the ability to collaborate with one another and with others disciplines. Jessica says that the thing that
got my knickers in a twist… was that he says — and I'm going to quote: “We can't put all the blame on designers. They are the soldiers, not the generals.” Now, this to me was like saying we are the dental hygienists, not the brain surgeons…

It’s not about education — it's about power.

It's not about training — it's about decision making.
Also mentioned (and heard) this week:


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Posted in: The Observatory




Michael Bierut + Jessica Helfand Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer. A former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Eye and Communications Arts magazine, she is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame. Jessica received both her BA and MFA from Yale University where she has taught since 1994. In 2013, she won the AIGA medal.

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