Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design

by Debbie Millman

In Look Both Ways, respected branding consultant and design community leader Debbie Millman has constructed a series of essays that examine the close relationship between design and everyday life. You'll find inspiration on every page as you meander through illuminating observations that are both personal and universal. Each beautifully illustrated essay reveals the magic - and wonder - of the often unseen world around us.Excerpt from "Look Both Ways"It occurred to me, as I stood there, that I could simultaneously, vividly look both ways - backward and forward, in time - at once. I remembered longing to know what was coming, who I would become and how. And I suddenly saw it all over again in front of me. The light was exactly the same, and as the sun fell and the summer shadows slivered against the elegant, lean, concrete towers in the distance, I recognized the smell of the warm air, the precise pink and grey of the coming dusk and the mysterious melancholy and joy of both knowing and not-knowing, and the continuity that occurs when both collide.-Debbie Millman

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Essays, Art, Creative, Memoir, Art Design

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2009

About the author

Debbie Millman is an American writer, educator, artist, and designer who is perhaps best known as the host of the Design Observer podcast 'Design Matters'. She is 'President of Design' at Sterling Brands, based in New York City, working with brands such as Pepsi, Gillette, Colgate, Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé, and Campbells. She chairs the 'Masters in Branding' program at the School of Visual Arts, is a contributing editor to Print, a blogger for Fast Company, and the 'President Emeritus' of AIGA.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a brave and daring book, well complemented by its unique and expressive design. Only fitfully, though, is it genuine and moving. The conceit—very successful branding executive writes a collection of short memoir pieces to try and locate her relationship to design—is certainly unique. (I'm jealous I didn't think of it first and then try to write it.) But that's exactly the problem. Branding executives are pied pipers and pedantic by nature. That's the job, actually. Trumpet our clients' aims as if they were the solution to all the world's problems, and then have a really well-reasoned and clear rationale for the work we do in support of them. (The numerous designer glitterati blurbs on the back cover are enough hyperbolic purchasing rationale for five books, let alone one.)

The best literature, though, is about doubt, raising questions, and the subtle implication of one's aims through narrative. Too many of Millman's pieces try too hard to validate brands and our relationships to them. They come off like highbrow pitch presentations which ring hollow in this context. She does better when making more subtle connections between life and design, though too often Millman concludes these stories by over-explaining the bigger points she's trying to make. As if she didn't trust the reader to intuit them on his or her own, and thus sounding like new age advice, rather than rich, candid anecdotes. Only at the end of the book does she trust the honesty in her writing by leaving out the overbearing justifications for it.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but it just felt sort of ... self-indulgent and repetitive and annoying. Like I think young Debbie and her obsession with having brands maybe had a problem. Sometimes she hints that she's since learned deeper truths but it felt forced. Didn't quite work for me.

[Margaret Heller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally understood myself after reading this book.

[Emma Sea · Rating 1 out of 5]

On page 184 Millman boasts that she didn't like Cloverfield. I'd like to say this didn't influence my dislike of the book, but I can't promise it.

I felt many of her essays were pedestrian, and the attempt to link them to design philosophy felt artificial and forced. Printing them in quirky, over-sized, type/handwriting/embroidery/index cards did not help.

Just not my book, I guess.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm about 4.5 stars on this one. I really, really liked it. Millman, whom I didn't know at all before I (almost randomly) picked up this book at my local university library, turns out to be a big-time brand design guru. The essays in the book aren't about branding per se, 'though. They are, as the subtitle says, at "the intersection of life and design," which means that they're little autobiographical stories about moments in Millman's life. Each story is connected in some way, to "brands"--including products (candy that she accumulated in her childhood), labels (the one from her first pair of Levis), bands (record albums whose songs take her back to specific moments), and ads (the "economy foam" sign in her neighborhood). The good news is that none of these are introduced heavy-handedly.

Millman is a very good writer, and the book is cleverly designed and fun to read. Books like these are the reason why I take chances on books that call to me intuitively, whether I know anything about them or not.

[Jacob Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a long-time fan of Debbie's podcast for her sentimental and narrative approach to design, so this book was a delightful behind-the-scenes/before-they-were-stars glimpse for me. I even discovered some similarities in our early experience of life, which undoubtedly contributes to my fondness for her perspective. She speaks of an early incapacity for certainty, and of a later aversion to "choosing one", and this book is a personal celebration of the glorious tangle of life as a passionate-but-a-bit-insecure artist and designer.

Debbie comes across as somewhat of an unapologetic brand enthusiast but, in a time where consumerism is oft-maligned, she connects with the powerful source of our desire for safety, beauty, love, and all that we are promised in this modern age. And then she turns it on its head with a swift, lyrical slap.

What's more: Beyond the substance of her words, her illustrations are equally personalized and enthralling.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visual essays that are so beautifully done, they inspire me on multiple levels.

I'd love to journal this way - if only.

[Hewi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Childlike" is a word often looked down upon but I believe Millman truly encapsulates it beautifully in her sense of wonder. I personally found solace in someone else with so much pride in sentimentality and collections. Her writings are incredibly thoughtful and loving in details, seemingly being someone who is truly living. She has a great understanding of communication, easily exuding her emotions and passions in both prose and design. Not reading a physical copy of this was truly unfortunate. Her essays cover overlapping topics of branding, memorabilia, design, decisions, knowing and not knowing, art, gratitude, and memory. The only flaw is sometimes too strong of an overlap, becoming repetitive (this should be a 9/10 but goodreads doesn't have half stars?). I am really quite glad I happened upon her poem "The Saddest Poem I Have Ever Written" which inspired me to read this and I recommend a read to those that enjoyed. Ultimately, this was a wonderfully short, provocative, and reassuring read.

[Nela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the format of mostly hand-written essays reminiscent of visual journals, and this was one of the first books that popped up while I was researching exactly this type of expression. And as a fellow designer, it's always interesting to see what happens in my colleagues' journals and sketchbooks.

Sadly the ebook image quality is not the best so at times I struggled to make out the words, but that's not the author's fault.

The essays themselves vary in interest. Some of them I couldn't relate to at all (like a childhood obsession with brands). But a few felt quite poignant, especially "Look Both Ways".

[Esther Brightman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nostalgic tug, accompanied by fascinating graphics.

This book made me laugh out loud. So many times I saw my own traits within these essays. Well written Debbie made the English language dance in thoughtful prose. A book which would interest graphic artists and writers alike.

[Maurice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only made it about half through. I was expecting something like “99% Invisible”, but it was more like a Youtube unboxing video.

[sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a long-time fan of Debbie's podcast, and after reading her diary images on Brainpickings, I decided to go for the gold and actually read her book.

The book is more memoir than anything else, recounting her young experiences with brands, design, and career decisions. The essays are a peek into her inner-life, but really, they're not anything you didn't already get from what you saw-on-the-internet.

Even though I found the book somewhat superficial in its' meditations on design-life, I had to give this 4 stars for its' incredible illustrations. (I think) Debbie both wrote and illustrated each essay, which as a whole, serve as a beautiful and varied way to communicate through text. I was excited to move on to each essay, just to see how the reading experience changed with the new design.

[Linda Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Millman's life events had a certain synergy with my own, but more than that I love how the conventions of the type and layout are played with and contested. Millman's thoughts and theories on life are witty and intelligent and expose how some of us 'arty types' connect with the world.

[Carolee Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I've seen too many things influenced by this sort of work. Or maybe it's the other way around. Good reminders, sort of interesting non-specific thoughts about general life things. Why not read it? It's not totally like other things you've already read.......

[Melanie Biehle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. So many of Debbie's essays spoke to me, and the design is truly beautiful.

[Roxie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really wonderful read. Debbie Millman is so moving and motivational as she describes various experiences and their effects in her life and career.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is always something new to dream of and always different dreams to choose. And you don't have to pick just one.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of an autobiography of sorts....the most interesting part was the typography. Otherwise it's more of an homage to brand (design) and the power of marketing.