Pentagram, one of the most well known and highly respected design agencies in the world. As chance would have it, I have been lucky enough to secure a month internship in the New York office under partner; Luke Hayman. It is a company that most are familiar with for at least one or two pieces of work; yet the designers, partners, and internal workings are shrouded in mystery. Working here has been all that I expected and more and yet, also far from it.
‘Great design cannot happen without passion, intelligence, and personal commitment.’
Pentagram
Even from my short time here, I feel this belief and ethos sums up exactly what Pentagram is all about. It is their method in achieving this that makes them such a success. As an example of passion; I have never seen a building with as many bookshelves (and accompanying regularly thumbed through books!).
Each brief is researched to great depth until both partners and designers understand exactly what the client is after... and what they really need - not always the same thing (that in itself is a discussion for another post!).
There is a great working atmosphere here too. Although they are a large company, small teams of designers work under each partner and as such, it has the best of both worlds. The passion and closeness of a small company yet, feeling almost like a collection of studios, each able to specialise or collaborate when the opportunity or brief arises.
How I feel Pentagram really shines out is their respect and, as mentioned above, their understanding both of their clients needs and internally for those who make the magic happen. The team are always willing to take the time to patiently discuss any issues, despite how much is to be done. The partners themselves, with their even greater workload, are never seen without a friendly smile and greeting. One of my common problems is remembering to spell the American way!
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A slight interlude to the Pentagram insight. Is New York just another large city? Wide streets, impossibly tall buildings and a million shops; what makes it so special?
Having lived in the city for almost three weeks, I have found the vast breadth of people and flourishing cultures provide an incredible amount of inspiration.
From touring ‘Chinatown’ during the New Year celebrations to exploring ‘Little Italy’ and the Russian district, there is a wide variety of stimuli for ideas (This will be discussed in greater depth in a later post). Add to this the large number of museums, lectures and galleries and you have an inspiration hotspot.
I mentioned how friendly the team at Pentagram are; this applies to many of the New Yorkers too. For example, whilst exploring Central Park I was invited to join a family playing football... in knee deep snow!
It is said the city is a place ‘that never sleeps’. I feel this applies best to the vast number of events and activities taking place. From dancers taking over a subway carriage to the wide variety of live music regularly taking place.
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What I really wanted to share with you is to highlight the most influential moment I have had so far at Pentagram.
Another great example of the passion and commitment that Pentagram have are the talks and lectures they arrange. Their most recent was by Jared Cocken, Creative Director at ‘The Wonderfactory’, discussing his career and designing for the Ipad.
Not having had the luxury of owning one myself, I had foolishly listened to blog posts and others in the design community about how, compared to a Macbook, its functions were limited and had no real purpose. As such, a glorified oversized iPhone. I was wrong. I had no idea as to the range and possibilities of what it can accomplish for both the design and editorial world.
What Apple have done is to challenge the way we see design and create a whole new and exciting medium to explore. They have added great depth to what can be called editorial publications. If well curated, they can become personal to the reader, allowing them to explore exactly what they want to see. The reader can skim through articles or get a bigger picture on a subject. It allows articles to be continually updated and opinionated with feeds from social media sites such as Twitter. Even more scary, Jared discussed how adverts can update and change as you travel through a magazine based on your preferences and what you look at. For example; if you skim past a car advert for a sports car then it will learn and the next may be for a larger family car.
Do not mistake this post as an ad for the iPad. As many were quick to point out, it has flaws; worst of all in the programs used to design for it. However I felt the need to share the excitement and shock I felt during and after the lecture (OK, so I may be very behind in design news). Jared opened my eyes to just how much more there is to learn and this is only the beginning. Where will digital design take us next? The iPad may not be perfect, but has unlocked doors and given us once again, as designers, unlimited possibilities.
Something I have found to be a common problem, more deeply set amongst established designers but evident in us all, we get far too comfortable in thinking we know enough about design and the world around us. I was reminded of this the hard way and can not wait to explore the iPad further. Yet as those at Pentagram strive to do - we should always be learning and expanding our knowledge, always looking around us for inspiration in an attempt to better our design and be innovative and original. Idea’s come at odd times and from the most unexpected place and we should always be trying to find new, and better ways of giving our clients exactly what they need.
You are never too old to learn.
