Steven Heller Review: NYC

I had never heard of Steven Heller until about a month ago. After all the hype of how we would be able to meet with him in NYC was going on, and after finally hearing him talk, this is how I would describe him: Steven Heller is a failed artist who has a keen eye for design. He doesn’t know anything about it, except for what should look good. His eyes must be doing something right though, because this little window of opportunity has given him a life of wealth and recognition because he can write books on graphic design and good and bad design. He can pick apart every logo and idea ever created and name the top 100 without even knowing how to design the idea correctly. He can sure as hell talk an idea out though, because this failed artist not only makes money off the books he’s written, but also off of people who do all the work and creating of his ingenius ideas. I’m jealous of a failed artist.

When I received the email from Ashley saying that our VC department would be lucky enough to meet with Steven Heller on our November trip to NYC, I was very excited. To be able to be so close and in the same room as such an important asset and person to the history of and to graphic design in general I thought would ignite a great amount of inspiration and excitement. However, once Mr. Heller began to tell us of his journey into the business and the making of his books, I was kind of disappointed to hear him say that all he does is think of the ideas that make up every graphic design piece he has done. Sure I think most of his ideas are very smart and clever, however to know that he couldn’t organize the information into the picture of any certain dynamic piece that I could physically see, was rather disappointing.

Despite that huge disappointment, I was able to find his graphic design books inspiring; especially this one where he named and showed what he considered some of the most influential & smart icons throughout history. I’ll be adding that to my Christmas list. Another aspect of the talk that I enjoyed hearing was how Mr. Heller came into the business at the young age of 17. That is beyond me. I couldn’t imagine being able to do my job without even just the 2 years I have had of formal education in visual communications. He has a natural eye for graphic design even though he himself cannot create it and as I said, I do envy that one aspect of him.

I would also like to point out that even though I was disappointed, it was great to hear that someone who is regarded so highly in this industry got kicked out and failed in art school and was still able to climb to the top. That was what I found most influential of his entire talk and it really showed me that I need to keep trying even if I do fail because I can and do have the potential to get to where he is (even though I don’t aspire his particular job) in the end.

-shannon