Chip Kidd: The art of first impressions — in design and life

Translator: Sylvia He Reviewer: 潘 可儿

Blah blah blah blah blah.

吧啦吧啦吧啦吧啦吧啦

Blah blah blah blah,

吧啦吧啦吧啦吧啦

blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah.

吧啦吧啦，吧啦啦啦啦啦

Blah blah blah, blah.

吧啦啦，吧啦

So what the hell was that?

講咩啊？

Well, you don't know because you couldn't understand it.

你唔知，因為你都冇聽明

It wasn't clear.

把聲都唔清晰

But hopefully, it was said with enough conviction

但起碼，你已經 畀呢種神秘深深咁吸引咗

that it was at least alluringly mysterious.

Clarity or mystery?

清晰定係神秘？

I'm balancing these two things in my daily work as a graphic designer,

我係做平面設計嘅 日日都要兼顧呢兩樣嘢

as well as my daily life as a New Yorker

喺紐約生活就係要咁

every day,

每日都係

and there are two elements that absolutely fascinate me.

其中有兩種元素令我着迷

Here's an example.

舉個例

Now, how many people know what this is?

有幾多人知道呢個係咩？

Okay. Now how many people know what this is?

宜家，又有幾多人？

Okay. Thanks to two more deft strokes by the genius Charles M. Schulz,

多謝 Charles M. Schulz 加咗 絕妙嘅兩筆

we now have seven deft strokes that in and of themselves

七條線就足夠展現成個感情生活

create an entire emotional life,

one that has enthralled hundreds of millions of fans

一張喺過去五十年裡邊

for over 50 years.

獲得億萬粉絲嘅面孔

This is actually a cover of a book

其實，呢個係我設計嘅一本書嘅封面

that I designed about the work of Schulz and his art,

介紹舒茲同佢嘅作品嘅

which will be coming out this fall,

今年秋季出街

and that is the entire cover.

呢個就係成個封面

There is no other typographic information or visual information on the front,

上邊冇其他文字或者視覺訊息

and the name of the book is "Only What's Necessary."

書名係《簡明至上》

So this is sort of symbolic about the decisions I have to make every day

呢個笑臉代表

about the design that I'm perceiving,

我認知嘅設計

and the design I'm creating.

同埋我個人嘅設計

So clarity.

清清楚楚就係要點

Clarity gets to the point.

It's blunt. It's honest. It's sincere.

就好似我畫出嚟咁 雖然粗爌，但感覺真

We ask ourselves this. ["When should you be clear?"]

我哋問自己：「幾時要清楚？」

Now, something like this, whether we can read it or not,

呢本（飛機乘客手冊）就要—— 我哋讀唔讀都好

needs to be really, really clear.

需要好清楚

Is it?

噉佢清唔清楚？

This is a rather recent example of urban clarity that I just love,

呢個係近期一個我好鍾意嘅

城市裡邊、增加咗訊息明確性嘅例子

mainly because I'm always late and I am always in a hurry.

主要係因為，我成日遲到，成日好趕

So when these meters started showing up a couple of years ago on street corners,

所以，幾年前 啲十字路口安裝咗計時器嗰時

I was thrilled, because now I finally knew

我好激動，因為我終於可以知道

how many seconds I had to get across the street

我仲有幾多秒過馬路 仲唔會被車撞親

before I got run over by a car.

Six? I can do that. (Laughter)

六秒？我得（笑聲）

So let's look at the yin to the clarity yang,

宜家，我哋嚟睇下同清晰相對嘅嘢

and that is mystery.

即係神秘

Mystery is a lot more complicated by its very definition.

神秘嘅定義好複雜

Mystery demands to be decoded,

有神秘，就需要解開神秘

and when it's done right, we really, really want to.

如果神秘表達得當 我哋真係會好想好想去解開佢

["When should you be mysterious?"]

「幾時應該神秘？」

In World War II, the Germans really, really wanted to decode this,

喺第二次世界大戰時 德國人好想好想破解呢個密碼

and they couldn't.

但佢哋失敗咗

Here's an example of a design that I've done recently

呢個係我最近 為村上春樹嘅小說做嘅設計

for a novel by Haruki Murakami,

who I've done design work for for over 20 years now,

我幫佢做封面已經做咗廿幾年

and this is a novel about a young man who has four dear friends

呢本小說係講一個叫多崎造嘅後生仔

佢有四個老友

who all of a sudden, after their freshman year of college,

佢哋大學一年級之後突然全部同佢絕交

completely cut him off with no explanation,

咩解釋都冇

多崎造大受打擊

and he is devastated.

And the friends' names each have a connotation in Japanese to a color.

每一個老友嘅日文名 都隱含住一種顏色

So there's Mr. Red, there's Mr. Blue, there's Ms. White, and Ms. Black.

有紅色先生、藍色先生 白色先生同黑色先生

Tsukuru Tazaki, his name does not correspond to a color,

多崎造嘅名冇對應嘅顏色

so his nickname is Colorless, and as he's looking back on their friendship,

所以佢自己叫「無色」 當佢回憶佢哋嘅友情歲月時

佢覺得佢哋就好似一隻手嘅五隻手指

he recalls that they were like five fingers on a hand.

So I created this sort of abstract representation of this,

於是，我用隻手做咗一個抽象嘅表達

but there's a lot more going on underneath the surface of the story,

小說裏面仲有好多故仔

and there's more going on underneath the surface of the jacket.

同樣，封面背後都仲有好多嘢

The four fingers are now four train lines

依家四條手指變成 東京地鐵嘅四條路線

in the Tokyo subway system,

which has significance within the story.

呢個細節喺故事裡邊好重要

And then you have the colorless subway line

呢條冇色嘅地鐵路線 同其他四條相交

intersecting with each of the other colors,

which basically he does later on in the story.

就好似多崎造喺本書度 逐個朋友搵返

He catches up with each of these people

to find out why they treated him the way they did.

問佢哋點解噉對佢

And so this is the three-dimensional finished product

呢個就係棟喺我嘅辦公室嘅

sitting on my desk in my office,

立體嘅成品

and what I was hoping for here is that you'll simply be allured

我期望嘅封面效果係

佢有足夠嘅神秘感

by the mystery of what this looks like,

and will want to read it

吸引你去讀呢本書

to decode and find out and make more clear why it looks the way it does.

同破解佢，明白設計嘅真正意圖

["The Visual Vernacular."]

This is a way to use a more familiar kind of mystery.

「視覺白話」

係一種運用熟悉嘅神秘感手法

What does this mean?

咩意思？

This is what it means. ["Make it look like something else."]

即係整到佢似其他嘢

The visual vernacular is the way we are used to seeing a certain thing

視覺白話 就係將我哋睇慣咗嘅一啲嘢

應用喺另一啲嘢 使我睇到唔同嘅嘢

applied to something else so that we see it in a different way.

This is an approach I wanted to take to a book of essays by David Sedaris

我將呢個方法用喺 David Sedaris 嘅散文集

that had this title at the time. ["All the Beauty You Will Ever Need"]

書名係《你所需要嘅美麗》

難就難喺 個標題其實冇任何意思

Now, the challenge here was that this title actually means nothing.

It's not connected to any of the essays in the book.

又冇同書裡邊嘅任何一章有關係

It came to the author's boyfriend in a dream.

佢係作者嘅男朋友發夢諗出嚟嘅

Thank you very much, so -- (Laughter) -- so usually, I am creating a design

真係唔該曬（笑聲）

通常我以文字內容為基礎做設計

that is in some way based on the text, but this is all the text there is.

但係啲文字就係噉

So you've got this mysterious title that really doesn't mean anything,

個書名又其實咩都冇講

so I was trying to think:

我就諗

Where might I see a bit of mysterious text that seems to mean something but doesn't?

有咩係又有神秘感 但係又冇意思？

And sure enough, not long after,

果然，冇幾耐

one evening after a Chinese meal,

有晚我去吃中餐之後，呢個出現咗

this arrived, and I thought, "Ah, bing, ideagasm!" (Laughter)

我諗：「啊，度橋度到有高潮！」 （笑聲）

I've always loved the hilariously mysterious tropes of fortune cookies

我好鍾意幸運曲奇裡邊 又搞笑又神秘嘅短句

that seem to mean something extremely deep

睇起嚟好似好有深度

but when you think about them -- if you think about them -- they really don't.

但再諗下，其實冇深度

This says, "Hardly anyone knows how much is gained by ignoring the future."

呢個講：「冇人知道

忽視未來會帶嚟幾多好處。」

Thank you. (Laughter)

唔該曬（笑聲）

But we can take this visual vernacular and apply it to Mr. Sedaris,

如果我哋將視覺白話用喺 Sedaris 先生度

and we are so familiar with how fortune cookie fortunes look

我哋好清楚幸運曲奇嘅外貌

that we don't even need the bits of the cookie anymore.

清楚到睇到個字條，就知道係幸運曲奇

We're just seeing this strange thing

我哋睇到呢個奇怪嘅書名

and we know we love David Sedaris,

我哋知道我哋好鍾意 David Sedaris

and so we're hoping that we're in for a good time.

所以會好期待呢本書

["'Fraud' Essays by David Rakoff"] David Rakoff was a wonderful writer

David Rakoff 係一個好好嘅作家

and he called his first book "Fraud"

佢將佢嘅第一本書命名為《騙局》

because he was getting sent on assignments by magazines

因為雜誌社畀咗佢一個

to do things that he was not equipped to do.

佢根本勝任唔到嘅工怍

So he was this skinny little urban guy

之後佢一個瘦蜢蜢嘅城市人

俾《智族》雜誌派去科羅拉多河度漂流

and GQ magazine would send him down the Colorado River

whitewater rafting to see if he would survive.

睇下死唔死得

And then he would write about it, and he felt that he was a fraud

之後，佢仲要返嚟寫報導 佢覺得自己做咗老千

and that he was misrepresenting himself.

佢覺得佢喺度寫緊同自己不乎嘅嘢

And so I wanted the cover of this book to also misrepresent itself

所以，我都要整一個 引起假象嘅封面

and then somehow show a reader reacting to it.

而個封面會印埋讀者嘅表情

This led me to graffiti.

噉就令我諗起塗鴉

I'm fascinated by graffiti.

我對塗鴉好痴迷

我諗任何一個城市人

I think anybody who lives in an urban environment

encounters graffiti all the time, and there's all different sorts of it.

都會經常見到各式各樣嘅塗鴉

This is a picture I took on the Lower East Side

呢張係我喺紐約下東城區影嘅相

of just a transformer box on the sidewalk

一個行人道上嘅變電箱

and it's been tagged like crazy.

俾塗鴉畫到花曬

Now whether you look at this and think, "Oh, that's a charming urban affectation,"

你可能會話：「佢喺街上幾好得意啊」

or you look at it and say, "That's illegal abuse of property,"

或者：「呢個係非法使用財產」

the one thing I think we can all agree on

但我哋都同意

is that you cannot read it.

根本讀唔出講乜

Right? There is no clear message here.

係咪？讀唔到任何明確訊息

There is another kind of graffiti that I find far more interesting,

另外一種塗鴉仲好玩

which I call editorial graffiti.

我稱佢為評論式塗鴉

This is a picture I took recently in the subway,

呢個係我最近喺地鐵拍嘅

and sometimes you see lots of prurient, stupid stuff,

有時你會睇到好多咸濕、白痴嘅嘢

but I thought this was interesting, and this is a poster that is saying

但係我覺得呢個好有趣

有張海報 上面寫住：「嘩嘩 Airbnb」

rah-rah Airbnb,

and someone has taken a Magic Marker

有人用筆喺上邊加字

and has editorialized about what they think about it.

And it got my attention.

呢個引起我嘅注意

So I was thinking, how do we apply this to this book?

於是我諗，點樣將佢用喺個封面度?

So I get the book by this person, and I start reading it, and I'm thinking,

我讀咗作者本書

我諗，呢個人唔係佢自己講嘅自己

this guy is not who he says he is; he's a fraud.

佢係個老千

And I get out a red Magic Marker,

於是，我攞支紅筆

and out of frustration just scribble this across the front.

發憫憎噉喺封面上亂畫

Design done. (Laughter)

搞掂（笑聲）

And they went for it! (Laughter)

上頭竟然批准咗！（笑聲）

Author liked it, publisher liked it,

作者鐘意，出版商鐘意

and that is how the book went out into the world,

於是個封面就出咗世

and it was really fun to see people reading this on the subway

見到有人喺地鐵讀呢本書 或者行嗰時攞住

and walking around with it and what have you,

我都覺得好搞笑

and they all sort of looked like they were crazy.

因為佢哋睇起嚟都好似癲癲哋咁

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

["'Perfidia' a novel by James Ellroy"] Okay, James Ellroy, amazing crime writer,

James Ellroy 係個好叻嘅犯罪小說作家

a good friend, I've worked with him for many years.

我同佢係好朋友，合作咗好多年

He is probably best known as the author

佢最出名嘅書係

of "The Black Dahlia" and "L.A. Confidential."

《黑色大麗花》同《洛杉磯嘅秘密》

呢本係佢最新嘅作品，個名好神秘

His most recent novel was called this, which is a very mysterious name

that I'm sure a lot of people know what it means, but a lot of people don't.

肯定好多人知道佢嘅意思 但係好多人唔知

And it's a story about a Japanese-American detective in Los Angeles in 1941

本書講一個日裔美籍偵探

喺 1941年 洛杉磯調查一單謀殺案

investigating a murder.

And then Pearl Harbor happens,

期間，珍珠港事件爆發

and as if his life wasn't difficult enough,

然後雪上加霜

now the race relations have really ratcheted up,

種族關係變得好緊張

and then the Japanese-American internment camps are quickly created,

日裔美國人開始俾政府送去拘留營

and there's lots of tension

形勢緊張，人心惶惶

and horrible stuff as he's still trying to solve this murder.

但係佢繼續查案

And so I did at first think very literally about this in terms of

我一開始嗰陣，我齋從字面意思考慮

all right, we'll take Pearl Harbor and we'll add it to Los Angeles

然後就將珍珠港嘅景搬到去洛杉磯

and we'll make this apocalyptic dawn on the horizon of the city.

成個畫面就係末日嘅景像

And so that's a picture from Pearl Harbor

just grafted onto Los Angeles.

My editor in chief said, "You know, it's interesting

我嘅主編話： 「有意思，

but I think you can do better and I think you can make it simpler."

不過我想你簡化啲。」

And so I went back to the drawing board, as I often do.

於是我同平時噉，返去用繪圖板畫

But also, being alive to my surroundings,

但我留意到自己嘅工作環境

I work in a high-rise in Midtown,

我嘅辦公室喺紐約市中城嘅高樓大廈

and every night, before I leave the office,

每晚，我離開辦公室之前

I have to push this button to get out,

要㩒呢個掣

又大又重嘅玻璃門先會打開 我先入到𨋢

and the big heavy glass doors open and I can get onto the elevator.

And one night, all of a sudden,

有一晚

我突然用一個全新嘅視角去睇部𨋢

I looked at this and I saw it in a way that I hadn't really noticed it before.

大紅點，危險

Big red circle, danger.

And I thought this was so obvious

我就諗，佢噉明顯

that it had to have been done a zillion times,

肯定俾人用過好多次

and so I did a Google image search, and I couldn't find another book cover

於是我去谷歌查

竟然揾唔到有類似封面嘅書

that looked quite like this,

and so this is really what solved the problem,

於是乎，搞掂！

and graphically it's more interesting

圖像本身變得更加有趣

and creates a bigger tension between the idea

用喺洛杉磯乃至美國上空嚟表現日出

of a certain kind of sunrise coming up over L.A. and America.

又顯得更加有張力

["'Gulp' A tour of the human digestive system by Mary Roach."]

Mary Roach 嘅書《Gulp》

Mary Roach 係一個好好嘅作家

Mary Roach is an amazing writer

佢將沉悶嘅科學話題 變得好有趣

who takes potentially mundane scientific subjects

and makes them not mundane at all; she makes them really fun.

呢本書有關人體消化系統

So in this particular case,

it's about the human digestive system.

So I'm trying to figure out what is the cover of this book going to be.

我喺度諗，個封面要點設計

This is a self-portrait. (Laughter)

呢個係我嘅自拍相 （笑聲）

Every morning I look at myself in the medicine cabinet mirror

日日朝早，我都會對住我藥櫃塊鏡

to see if my tongue is black.

睇下我條脷係唔係黑色

And if it's not, I'm good to go.

如果唔係

我就行得喇

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

I recommend you all do this.

我建議你哋都噉做

But I also started thinking, here's our introduction.

同時我亦開始諗 呢個係我哋嘅「入口」

Right? Into the human digestive system.

係咪？人體消化系統嘅入口

But I think what we can all agree on

我諗大家會同意

人體口腔嘅相 或者基於佢嘅作品

is that actual photographs of human mouths, at least based on this,

are off-putting. (Laughter)

都係核突嘅（笑聲）

So for the cover, then, I had this illustration done

所以我同個封面畫咗個 更容易俾人接受嘅插圖

which is literally more palatable

and reminds us that it's best to approach the digestive system

同時強調消化系統係從呢度開始

from this end.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

I don't even have to complete the sentence. All right.

我都唔使講完句話你都明……

["Unuseful mystery"]

「冇用嘅神秘感」

當明確性同神秘感撈埋一齊 會發生咩？

What happens when clarity and mystery get mixed up?

And we see this all the time.

我哋隨時見得到

This is what I call unuseful mystery.

冇用嘅神秘感嘅例子

I go down into the subway -- I take the subway a lot --

我行入地鐵，我經常搭地鐵

and this piece of paper is taped to a girder.

睇到個柱上有呢張紙

Right? And now I'm thinking, uh-oh,

我就諗，死喇

and the train's about to come and I'm trying to figure out what this means,

班地鐵到喇 我仲未睇明個告示講咩

and thanks a lot.

真係唔該曬

Part of the problem here is that they've compartmentalized the information

其中一個問題係

佢哋以為噉劃分訊息對我哋好有幫助

in a way they think is helpful, and frankly, I don't think it is at all.

但老實講句，我覺得冇咩用

So this is mystery we do not need.

呢個就係我哋唔需要嘅神秘感

What we need is useful clarity, so just for fun, I redesigned this.

我哋需要有用嘅明確性 於是乎，我貪玩噉重新設計佢

This is using all the same elements.

用嘅元素一樣

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you. I am still waiting for a call from the MTA. (Laughter)

多謝 我仲等緊地鐵公司嘅電話

You know, I'm actually not even using more colors than they use.

你睇下，我都冇用多一種顏色

They just didn't even bother to make the 4 and the 5 green,

佢哋甚至懶到冇將 4 同 5 變綠色

those idiots. (Laughter)

成班蠢人（笑聲）

So the first thing we see is that there is a service change,

宜家我哋睇到嘅第一條訊息係 車次有變動

and then, in two complete sentences with a beginning, a middle and an end,

然後有兩句完整嘅話， 有開始，有過程，有結尾

佢講清楚咩車次變咗，有咩後續安排

it tells us what the change is and what's going to be happening.

Call me crazy! (Laughter)

話我癲都係噉話（笑聲）

["Useful mystery"] All right.

有用嘅神秘，好

呢個係我鍾意嘅神秘：

Now, here is a piece of mystery that I love:

packaging.

包裝

This redesign of the Diet Coke can

呢款 Turner Duckworth 再版設計嘅 健怡可樂罐

by Turner Duckworth is to me truly a piece of art.

對於我嚟講 係一件真正嘅藝術品，真係好靚

It's a work of art. It's beautiful.

But part of what makes it so heartening to me as a designer

作為一個設計師，我欣賞佢嘅地方係

is that he's taken the visual vernacular of Diet Coke --

Turner 將健怡可樂嘅視覺白話︰

the typefaces, the colors, the silver background --

招牌嘅字體、顏色，同銀色嘅背景

and he's reduced them to their most essential parts,

濃縮到最精華

so it's like going back to the Charlie Brown face.

所以，就好似卡通人物 查理．布朗塊面咁

It's like, how can you give them just enough information so they know what it is

畀你嘅訊息啱啱好、冇多冇少

but giving them the credit for the knowledge that they already have

既會畀啲訊息你 又照顧到你已經知嘅部分

about this thing?

It looks great, and you would go into a delicatessen

真係好正

當你行入個熟食店 貨架上嘅佢就會投射入你眼中

and all of a sudden see that on the shelf, and it's wonderful.

真係好正

Which makes the next thing --

下一個，「冇用嘅清晰度」

["Unuseful clarity"] -- all the more disheartening,

起碼對我嚟講，更加令我心煩

at least to me.

So okay, again, going back down into the subway,

咁，我哋再返返去地鐵站

after this came out,

健怡可樂嘅設計出嚟之後

these are pictures that I took.

佢哋做咗海報

Times Square subway station:

喺時代廣場地鐵站

Coca-Cola has bought out the entire thing for advertising. Okay?

可口可樂買曬全部廣告位

And maybe some of you know where this is going.

可能有人知道跟住會發生咩

Ahem.

嗯

"You moved to New York with the clothes on your back,

「你嚟紐約時就得件外套、幾蚊雞，

the cash in your pocket, and your eyes on the prize.

意住個獎，同埋吸緊毒。」（笑聲）

You're on Coke." (Laughter)

"You moved to New York with an MBA, one clean suit,

「你嚟紐約時就得 一個商科學位、一套西裝，

and an extremely firm handshake.

同一隻握手有力嘅手。

You're on Coke." (Laughter)

你吸緊毒。」（笑聲）

These are real! (Laughter)

全部都係真嘅！（笑聲）

Not even the support beams were spared,

連條柱都唔放過

except they switched into Yoda mode. (Laughter)

不過換成尤達大師嘅風格（笑聲）

"Coke you're on." (Laughter)

「毒，你吸咗。」（笑聲）

["Excuse me, I'm on WHAT??"]

「唔好意思，我咩？」

呢個廣告活動嚴重失誤

This campaign was a huge misstep.

It was pulled almost instantly due to consumer backlash

俾消費者強烈抗拒 幾乎一上架就落架

and all sorts of unflattering parodies on the web --

仲俾好多人喺網上惡搞

(Laughter) --

（笑聲）

and also that dot next to "You're on," that's not a period, that's a trademark.

仲有，「You're on」隔離嘅點 唔係句號， 係註冊商標

So thanks a lot.

真係唔該曬

So to me, this was just so bizarre

對我嚟講，真係好奇怪

about how they could get the packaging so mysteriously beautiful and perfect

點解佢哋嘅包裝做得噉神秘 噉精彩、噉完美

and the message so unbearably, clearly wrong.

然後做文字嗰時就錯到 一塌糊塗、噉痛苦

It was just incredible to me.

真係匪夷所思

So I just hope that I've been able to share with you some of my insights

所以，我希望你哋明白到

on the uses of clarity and mystery in my work,

我嘅作品裡邊 明確性同神秘感嘅用法

and maybe how you might decide to be more clear in your life,

然後或者你哋會決定 喺生活裡邊加多啲明確性

or maybe to be a bit more mysterious and not so over-sharing.

又或者加啲神秘感 但又唔好過量嘅資訊

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

如果我今次有一個主題

And if there's just one thing that I leave you with from this talk,

I hope it's this:

我希望係呢個：

Blih blih blih blah. Blah blah blih blih. ["'Judge This,' Chip Kidd"]

嗶哩嗶哩嗶哩吧啦，吧啦吧啦嗶哩嗶哩

Blih blih blah blah blah. Blah blah blah.

吧啦吧啦吧啦吧啦吧啦 吧啦吧啦吧啦

吧啦

Blah blah.

(Applause)

（掌聲）