Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight

I have to admit, I had never heard of the famous American graphic designer, Milton Glaser. However, after watching his work in the documentary “Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight,” I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was responsible for creating a number of iconic images that I recognized right away. He designed the famous logo, “I ♥ NY,” that eventually became a cultural-connecting symbol for tourists as well as locals. Of course, the symbol found its way onto a countless number of T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains, and other items. The “I ♥ NY” symbol not only attracted tourists with its omnipresence in magazines and marketing campaigns, but back in the mid 70’s, it brought a new life to New York City (NYC). The power of the symbol led people to believe that NYC was the embodiment of a new cultural phenomenon, and it was seen as a representative of changing contemporary social attitudes in the U.S. Having said this, Glaser also created the famous, “Bob Dylan” poster, with colored, curvy hair that immediately found its way into books of pop-art.

The documentary begins with Glaser providing his thoughts on how a design can act as a puzzle, thereby activating and enabling the mind in a variety of ways. He recalls that for his work in designing the “I ♥ NY” symbol, he never got any financial benefit, since the symbol was designed as a part of a marketing campaign for NYC. Going back to the basics, he sheds light on the importance of drawing, as his work requires him to do rough sketches before working on a design. A similar strategy was employed by a famous photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, who used drawings to understand the compositional aspect of a shot.

Through various interviewees, we come to know Glaser as a teacher. His classes were like a boot-camp, where students are asked to undertake a number of challenging assignments in a relatively short time period. It seems as a teacher, he goes above and beyond to help his students with valuable feedback, which enables them with their creative thought process. Along the way, other interviewees recall their working relationship with Glaser, specifically during the time when they were designing a front-page cover in 1968 for “New York” magazine and later for “Fortune 500.” As described in the interviews, Glaser and his team had to work constantly through the development process in designing the covers. Initially, a few designs lacked the power to draw its audience, which meant that the team had to go back to the drawing board. There is no doubt that it was an intense and elaborate process.

Moving along, Glaser provides insights on the African culture and its art, and his explanation of how there is a single word coined for good and beautiful in the African culture, although he never mentions which specific country he is talking about. He also recalls a collaborative project with his wife, Shirley Glaser. In one fascinating technical discussion, he talks about a public art piece that he designed, which was motivated by the Tibetan culture: a wavy copper wall that was lit in a specific manner, creating a softening visual pattern. In another instance of a public art display, he created bike arcs in such a manner that objects painted on them seemed to move independently of each other. Finally, Katrina Heuvel (editor and publisher of “The Nation”) describes the breadth of Glaser’s intellect and vision and how he believes in continuity and visuals.

Milton Glaser is a charming and energetic man, for sure. The documentary digs deeper into the technical aspects of graphic design. I can’t say that I gained much from these discussions as they provide only basic technical details. However, it was good to hear Glaser present his thought process, although it would have been nice to hear more philosophical discussions on the workmanship that goes into making a design. Creating commercial art is an intense and consuming process, in which there is no easy way out. I would have loved if the director, Wendy Keys, had evoked more introspection from Glaser on his professional work conflicts and on the challenges he faced from his co-workers and superiors in his creative work process. The film missed this aspect completely and as a result, we only see the happy and dandy side of Glaser.

Video:

DocuRama presents this film in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, enhanced for widescreen TVs. The video is perfectly acceptable and clear throughout its running time. Mostly, the film is composed as a series of close-up shots, and the skin tones are rendered appropriately. Overall, the image is sharp, considering the low-budget nature of the film.

Audio:

Here, we get a 2.0 Dolby Digital audio track, which works well for this documentary. The documentary is just a collection of interviews, with no need for a workout from the rear channels. The dialogue is clear during film’s duration.

Extras:

The only extra included on the discs is a twenty-five minute panel discussion titled “The Design of Dissent.” This discussion was conducted by Glaser as part of his book.

Parting Thoughts:

The film provides something of a lackluster journey into the world of a very talented man, Milton Glaser. The documentary could have benefited from a balanced discussion of philosophy, spirituality, and professional work conflicts. In the end, the film weighs heavily on the technical aspect, which might be too light for students of graphic-arts design. Therefore, “Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight” should only be viewed as a short introduction to Milton Glaser.