“Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking”
Milton Glaser
The logo is an identifier but it’s also something that stands in for who you are.
Steven Heller
Working within the constraints of a problem is part of the fun and challenge of design.
Ellen Lupton
Graphic design is a popular art and a practical art, an applied art and an ancient art. Simply put, it is the art of visualizing ideas.
Jessica Helfand
Design is just language and the real issue is what you use that language to do.
Tibor Kalman
They enjoy giving form to ideas. If designers were made of ideas, they’d be their own clients.
Rudy VanderLans
My chosen quote came from Milton Glaser, “Computers are to design as microwaves are to cooking”. Milton Glaser was a graphic designer from New York and is the graphic designer who created the ‘I LOVE NY MORE THAN EVER” print in 2001. His design for Bob D
His style can be described as humorous and playful. Glaser can be best known for his posters and album covers in American pop culture. Abstract design and colouring were a key part of all of Glaser’s works and made him the designer he was. This quote about computers is to design as microwaves are for cooking can relate heavily to the style of prints that Glaser creates.
The quote, from my perspective, shows the humous narrative that Milton was able to create. Understanding this quote can be utilised as a form of a metaphor. To dive further into design in modern society relies on the computer and how it has allowed us to develop the prints and graphic capabilities in art today. This refers back to cooking, as a microwave is used in kitchens everywhere but primarily used to heat, cook and even defrost food.
At first view, I personally thought that this quote was a positive look on computers and microwaves compared to design and cooking food but this quote can be taken from different perspectives. In terms of using a microwave, food is usually already cooked, and the microwave is a tool to reheat or further cook food.
In terms of the computer and design, we usually use our creativity through ideation on paper and in our minds before starting on the computer which is still such a useful part of technology. Some people can argue that microwave ruins food, or being used through a microwave does allow cooking as well as an oven may. So was Milton trying to say that computers have ruined the way we design?
As a designer, I think recognising these different perspectives and the quote itself, it is important in some ways to stick to the basics when creating and designing. Utilising the pen-to-paper method and allowing the natural creation to apply before further expanding through to technology. I think this has allowed me to visual design from a different perspective and I highly admire the work that Milton Glaser produced.
Reference list
Creative Boom 2018, Milton Glaser on his most iconic works and the importance of ethics in design, Creative Boom.
Glaser, M, Heller, S, Lupton, E, Helfand, J, Kalman, T & VanderLans, R 2019, A-Z Quotes | Quotes for All Occasions, A-Z Quotes.
Milton Glaser Inc. 2019, Milton Glaser, Milton Glaser.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2018, Milton Glaser | American graphic designer and illustrator, Encyclopædia Britannica.
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