Dialogues with Creative Legends and Aha Moments in a Designer's Career

David Laufer is a visual designer with a wide spectrum of experience. His work first came to international prominence in 1978 with his rebranding of Oxford University Press for its 500th anniversary. This launched a consulting career that includes product development for the Museum of Modern Art New York, and a clientele ranging from venture capital startups to Fortune 1000 companies. His lifelong interest in the nexus of creativity and business have made him a leading exponent of brand driven marketing for expertise-based enterprises.

  1 Teachers and Titans


 

 


 

Victor Papanek


Portfolio and Career

Buckminster Fuller


World Game

Charles and Ray Eames


The Connections

Saul Bass


Notes on Change

 


Design in the Real World

James Burke, Jr.


Life Is Like a Train

Walter Herdeg and
Jack Kuntz


The Kingmaker

Josef Müller-Brockmann and Ruedi Rüegg


People, Not Portfolios

Heinz Edelmann


Every Ten Years, Burn Your Portfolio

 


 

2 Gotham


 

 


The Great Midwest Mounted Valise

 


Penn Station Booth 6

 


The Valise Rides Solo

Ed Gottschall


Not Your Average Interview

 


Cold Calling 101

Herb Stern


The One Week Hence Test

Seymour Chwast


Bad Luck, so Good Luck

Ian Ballentine


A Short Course in Genre Publishing

Len Leone


Joe Cool Himself

 


Hope Gliimmers

James McMullan


Watercolor Wizard

Barbara Bertoli


Strong, yet Vulnerable

 


Coloring Outside the Lines

Max Miedinger


Getting Helvetica Right

Arthur Tress


The Dream Collector

 


Thinking Like the Herd: The Bertoli Toggle

Peter Mayer


How to Run a Sales Meeting

 


Boldness in the Face of Opportunity

 


Penn Station Booth 6, Revisited

Frederick Schneider


Oxford University Press

 


Overheard in Editorial Meetings: The Interplay between Word and Image

 


To Be Right Is the Most Terrific Personal State that Nobody Is Interested in

George Nelson


Philosophy of Design

 


 

 


Portfolio Transitions, or Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste!

Massimo Vignelli


The Auteur Speaks

James Craig


Keeping Your Powder Dry

 


Tipping Point on a Train

Hermann Zapf


The Secret Is the Speed

Paul Rand


The Designer as Brand

Ivan Chermayeff


 A Search for Essence

Lou Dorfsman


I Just Try to Make It Look Good

Herb Lubalin


Talk about Schlock

 


 

3 From Valise to Expertise


 

Don Trousdell


Growing a Style and Outgrowing Style

Dave Condrey and
Bll Duncan


Welcome to the Greatest Marketing Organization on Earth

Robert Woodruff


Take Out Everything but the Enjoyment

Lawrence Gellerstedt, Jr.


Leadership Is Developing People

Caroline Warner Hightower


Design as Magic

 


Saul Bass Redux

Sid Topol


A Good Proposal on Time

Roberto Goizueta


Creative Friends

Index

Bibliography