How to design a library that makes kids want to read | Michael Bierut

Translator: Sylvia He

So there's this thing called the law of unintended consequences.

有樣嘢叫做意外結果定律

I thought it was just like a saying,

我以為佢係個傳說

but it actually exists, I guess.

其實，佢真係存在

There's, like, academic papers about it.

仲有人寫關於佢嘅學術論文

And I'm a designer.

我係個設計師

I don't like unintended consequences.

我唔鍾意意外嘅結果

People hire me because they have consequences that they really intend,

啲客戶請我 因為佢哋要喺控制範圍以內

and what they intend is for me to help them achieve those consequences.

達到佢哋要嘅嘅效果

So I live in fear of unintended consequences.

所以我好怕失控 同意外嘅結果

And so this is a story about consequences intended and unintended.

呢個故事係關於 預期同意外嘅效果

I got called by an organization called Robin Hood

有個叫羅賓漢嘅機構揾到我

to do a favor for them.

叫我幫手

Robin Hood is based in New York, a wonderful philanthropic organization

羅賓漢，如同其名

that does what it says in the name.

係一個喺紐約嘅好正嘅慈善機構

They take from rich people, give it to poor people.

佢哋摞富濟貧

In this case, what they wanted to benefit was the New York City school system,

今次，佢哋想幫助紐約嘅公立學校系統

a huge enterprise that educates more than a million students at a time,

一個每年負責教育 過百萬嘅學生嘅龐大嘅機構

and in buildings that are like this one,

啲教學樓就係噉樣

old buildings, big buildings,

又大又舊

drafty buildings, sometimes buildings that are in disrepair,

漏風，年久失修

certainly buildings that could use a renovation.

好需要修理

Robin Hood had this ambition to improve these buildings in some way,

羅賓漢嘅本意係想改善下哋樓房

but what they realized was

但係佢哋意識到

to fix the buildings would be too expensive and impractical.

成棟樓咁修不但止貴，而且唔現實

So instead they tried to figure out what one room they could go into

所以，佢哋諗不如

in each of these buildings, in as many buildings that they could,

每棟樓翻修一間房

and fix that one room

盡量多整幾棟樓

so that they could improve the lives of the children inside

咁樣，佢哋可以改善

as they were studying.

啲細路嘅學習環境

And what they came up with was the school library,

於是，佢哋決定翻修每個學校嘅圖書館

and they came up with this idea called the Library Initiative.

就係「圖書館計劃」

All the students have to pass through the library.

所有學生都去過圖書館

That's where the books are.

一個有好多書嘅地方

That's where the heart and soul of the school is.

係學校嘅心臟同靈魂所在

So let's fix these libraries.

好，我哋去翻新圖書館喇

So they did this wonderful thing where they brought in

佢哋嘅計劃好正，請咗十，二十

first 10, then 20, then more architects,

然後更多嘅建築師嚟

each one of whom was assigned a library to rethink what a library was.

一人重新設計一個圖書館

They trained special librarians.

佢哋仲培訓特殊嘅圖書管理員

So they started this mighty enterprise

成個事業好宏大

to reform public schools by improving these libraries.

改革公立學校，從圖書館做起

Then they called me up and they said, "Could you make a little contribution?"

佢揾到我，問：「可唔可以幫手？」

I said, "Sure, what do you want me to do?"

我話：「冇問題，你要我做咩？」

And they said, "Well, we want you to be the graphic designer

佢哋話：「呃，我哋要你

in charge of the whole thing."

做成個平面設計嘅總監。」

And so I thought, I know what that means. That means I get to design a logo.

我就諗 收到，設計一個標誌

I know how to design that. I design logos.

我知掂做，我做呢行嘅

That's what people come to me for.

人哋就係揾我做呢個嘅

So OK, let's design a logo for this thing.

好，設計標誌

Easy to do, actually, compared with architecture

其容易過起建築

and being a librarian.

或者管理圖書館

Just do a logo, make a contribution, and then you're out,

設計完個標誌，我就走得

and you feel really good about yourself.

仲好有自豪感

And I'm a great guy and I like to feel good about myself when I do these favors.

我係個好人，幫到人時我好高興

So I thought, let's overdeliver.

我諗，不如超越客戶要求

I'm going to give you three logos, all based on this one idea.

一個理念，三個標誌

So you have three options, pick any of the three.

任你揀

They're all great, I said.

我同啲客仔講，個個設計都好正

So the basic idea was these would be new school libraries

基本理念係 為紐約嘅學校設計嘅

for New York schools,

新嘅學校圖書館

and so the idea is that it's a new thing, a new idea that needs a new name.

新生事物，就要有個新名

What I wanted to do was dispel the idea that these were musty old libraries,

我唔想啲人認為 係圖書館都又老又舊

the kind of places that everyone is bored with,

睇到都好悶嗰種

you know, not your grandparents' library.

你知喇，老一脫人用嘅嗰種圖書館

Don't worry about that at all.

完全唔係咁

This is going to this new, exciting thing,

呢個係一個令人振奮嘅新事物

not a boring library.

唔係無聊嘅圖書館

So option number one:

所以，方案一：

so instead of thinking of it as a library,

唔好當呢個地方係圖書館

think of it as a place where it is like: do talk, do make loud noises.

而當佢係自由傾偈 同發聲嘅地方

Right? So no shushing, it's like a shush-free zone.

冇人可以噓你

We're going to call it the Reading Room.

呢個地方就叫閱讀室

That was option number one. OK, option number two.

然後第二個方案

Option number two was, wait for it,

睇住啦

OWL.

OWL

I'll meet you at OWL.

我哋喺 OWL 見啦

I'm getting my book from the OWL. Meet you after school down at OWL.

我去 OWL 摞書 放學我喺 OWL 等你

I like that, right? Now, what does OWL stand for?

我好鍾意呢個 OWL 係咩？

Well, it could be One World Library,

可以係 「一個世界圖書館「」嘅簡寫

or it could be Open. Wonder. Learn.

亦可以解做開放 、好奇，同學習

Or it could be -- and I figure librarians could figure out other things it could be

其他解法就留畀啲圖書管理員諗喇

because they know about words.

佢哋識咁多字

So other things, right?

仲有咩？

And then look at this. It's like the eye of the owl.

佢似唔似隻貓頭鷹嘅眼？

This is irresistible in my opinion.

我覺得你係冇辦法抗拒呢個設計

But there's even another idea.

仲有

Option number three.

方案三

Option number three was based actually on language.

其實係個文字遊戲

It's the idea that "read" is the past tense of "read,"

靈感來自英文 「閱讀」嘅現在式同過去式一樣嘅拼法

and they're both spelled the same way.

而「閱讀」嘅過去式又同「紅色」同音

So why don't we call this place The Red Zone?

不如叫圖書館做「紅區」？

I'll meet you at the Red Zone.

喺「紅區」見喇

Are you Red? Get Red.

你「讀」咗未？ 紅咯！

I'm well Red.

我好「紅」！

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I really loved this idea,

我好鍾意呢個諗法

and I somehow was not focused on the idea

但係我就冇考慮到

that librarians as a class are sort of interested in spelling and I don't know.

啲圖書管理員 其實都好肉緊啲拼同寫

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But sometimes cleverness is more important than spelling,

但係有時創意緊要過拼寫

and I thought this would be one of those instances.

好似宜家咁

So usually when I make these presentations

我畀客戶睇我嘅設計時

I say there's just one question and the question should be,

通常客戶只有一個問題，就係：

"How can I thank you, Mike?"

「Mike，我要點多謝你先得？」

But in this case, the question was more like,

不過今次，個客嘅問題係：

"Um, are you kidding?"

「呃，你講笑啊？」

Because, they said,

佢哋話

the premise of all this work

我嘅設計前提係

was that kids were bored with old libraries, musty old libraries.

啲細路已經好厭呢啲

They were tired of them.

又老又舊嘅圖書館

And instead, they said, these kids have never really seen a library.

但其實窮學校嘅細路從來都 未見過真正嘅圖書館

The school libraries in these schools

窮學校嘅圖書館

are really so dilapidated, if they're there at all,

好舊好爛

that they haven't bored anyone.

有啲學校甚至冇圖書館

They haven't even been there to bore anyone at all.

所以啲細路俾圖書館煩嘅機會都冇

So the idea was, just forget about giving it a new name.

所以，我冇需要起個新名

Just call it, one last try, a library.

叫圖書館就得

Right? OK.

係咁

So I thought, OK, give it a little oomph?

於是我諗，得，不如加小小新意？

Exclamation point?

加個感嘆號？

Then -- this is because I'm clever --

然後，我幾鬼馬嘎

move that into the "i,"

我將個「 i 」變成感嘆號

make it red,

同變成紅色

and there you have it, the Library Initiative.

搞掂：「圖書館計劃」

So I thought, mission accomplished, there's your logo.

我諗，搞掂喇

So what's interesting about this logo, an unintended consequence,

呢個標誌嘅意外嘅效果

was that it turned out that they didn't really even need my design

就係，根本唔使我嚟設計

because you could type it any font, you could write it by hand,

電腦都可以打印，手寫又得

and when they started sending emails around,

佢哋寫電郵時開始咁寫添

they just would use Shift and 1,

用 Shift 同 1

they'd get their own logo just right out of the thing.

就打出嚟喇

And I thought, well, that's fine.

我諗，都幾好

Feel free to use that logo.

隨便用喇

And then I embarked on the real rollout of this thing --

然後就真係要推出呢個標誌

working with every one of the architects

我同每一個建築師合作

to put this logo on the front door of their own library. Right?

將個標誌放喺個門度

So here's the big rollout.

先前，羅賓漢係我個客

Basically I'd work with different architects.

宜家我同啲建築師合作

First Robin Hood was my client. Now these architects were my client.

佢哋每一個都係我嘅客

I'd say, "Here's your logo. Put it on the door."

我話: 「嗱， 畀你個標誌，放喺個門度。」

"Here's your logo. Put it on both doors."

「畀你個標誌，一幢門一個。」

"Here's your logo. Put it off to the side."

「摞住個標誌，放喺旁邊。」

"Here's your logo repeated all over to the top."

「 畀個標誌你，喺上面放一排。」

So everything was going swimmingly.

做得好順利

I just was saying, "Here's your logo. Here's your logo."

我就話：「畀你個標誌你。」

Then I got a call from one of the architects,

然後有個叫理查 ．劉易斯嘅建築師

a guy named Richard Lewis, and he says, "I've got a problem.

打電話畀我：「我有個問題。

You're the graphics guy. Can you solve it?"

你係平面設計師 可唔可以幫手？」

And I said, OK, sure."

我話：「好。」

And he said, "The problem is that there's a space

佢話：「問題就係，

between the shelf and the ceiling."

啲書櫃頂同天花板有啲空間。」

So that sounds like an architectural issue to me,

聽落好似個建築上嘅問題 唔係平面設計

not a graphic design issue, so I'm, "Go on."

嘅問題，我就話：「繼續講。」

And Richard says, "Well, the top shelf has to be low enough

理查話：「嗰啲書櫃唔可以起得太高，

for the kid to reach it,

太高嘅話，啲細路就摞唔到啲書。

but I'm in a big old building, and the ceilings are really high,

我負責嘅大樓嘅天花板高，

so actually I've got all this space up there

所以書櫃同天花板之間就有好多空白。

and I need something like a mural."

我需要啲壁畫嚟填呢個空間。」

And I'm like, "Whoa, you know, I'm a logo designer.

我話：「哇，我設計標誌嘅，

I'm not Diego Rivera or something.

我唔係迭戈裡維拉，

I'm not a muralist."

壁畫我唔得啵。」

And so he said, "But can't you think of anything?"

佢話：「咁你可唔可以幫手度下橋？」

So I said, "OK, what if we just took pictures of the kids in the school

我話：「不如影學生相，

and just put them around the top of the thing,

將啲相放大，貼上個空間，

and maybe that could work."

可能得。」

And my wife is a photographer,

我太太係攝影師

and I said, "Dorothy, there's no budget,

我同佢講：「多羅西，我哋冇錢，

can you come to this school in east New York, take these pictures?"

你可唔可以嚟呢間學校 幫手影相？」

And she did,

佢去咗

and if you go in Richard's library,

宜家你去理查德嘅圖書館

which is one of the first that opened,

佢是最早重新開放嘅圖書館之一

it has this glorious frieze of, like, the heroes of the school,

佢有好靚嘅雕帶 好似學校嘅大英雄

oversized, looking down

居高臨下

into the little dollhouse of the real library, right?

望住個圖書館

And the kids were great, hand-selected by the principals

啲細路係校長

and the librarian.

同圖書館長欽點嘅

It just kind of created this heroic atmosphere in this library,

使到個圖書館好有英雄氣氛

this very dignified setting below and the joy of the children above.

上邊莊重，下邊有細路嘅喜悅

So naturally all the other librarians in the other schools see this

其他圖書館嘅館長 睇度呢個之後話

and they said, well, we want murals too.

我哋都要壁畫

And I'm like, OK.

於是我話，冇問題

So then I think, well, it can't be the same mural every time,

但係我又諗，啲壁畫個個一樣唔得

so Dorothy did another one, and then she did another one,

於是多羅西整個新嘅，又再整一個

but then we needed more help,

我哋搞唔掂，需要揾人幫手

so I called an illustrator I knew named Lynn Pauley,

我打電話畀一個 叫 Lynn Pauley 嘅插圖家

and Lynn did these beautiful paintings of the kids.

佢畫嘅細蚊仔嘅畫好靚

Then I called a guy named Charles Wilkin at a place called Automatic Design.

我打電話畀 Automatic Design 嘅 Charles Wilkin

He did these amazing collages.

佢做咗啲令人嘆為觀止嘅拼圖

We had Rafael Esquer

我哋請咗 Rafael Esquer

do these great silhouettes.

嚟做啲獨具一格嘅剪影

He would work with the kids, asking for words,

佢叫啲細蚊仔畀啲生字佢

and then based on those prompts,

然後以呢啲生字為基礎

come up with this little, delirious kind of constellation

增成代表書裡邊嘅事物嘅剪影

of silhouettes of things that are in books.

Peter Arkle interviewed the kids

Peter Arkle 問啲細蚊仔

and had them talk about their favorite books

最鍾意睇咩書

and he put their testimony as a frieze up there.

然後將嗰啲書嘅封面整成雕帶

Stefan Sagmeister worked with Yuko Shimizu

Stefan Sagmeister 同 Yuko Shimizu 合作

and they did this amazing manga-style statement,

用漫畫風格寫：

"Everyone who is honest is interesting,"

「任何誠實嘅人都係有趣嘅」

that goes all the way around.

然後整成環繞住成間房嘅雕帶

Christoph Niemann, brilliant illustrator,

Christoph Niemann 一個才華橫溢嘅插圖家

did a whole series of things

做咗一個系列

where he embedded books into the faces and characters

將書嵌入書裡邊嘅場景

and images and places that you find in the books.

同人物面孔

And then even Maira Kalman

仲有 Maira Kalman

did this amazing cryptic installation of objects and words

整咗一個又神秘又迷人嘅

that kind of go all around and will fascinate students

環繞住成個房間嘅

for as long as it's up there.

藝術作品

So this was really satisfying,

呢啲作品嘅效果好令人滿意

and basically my role here was reading a series of dimensions to these artists,

我嘅職責就係 將啲尺寸畀啲藝術家

and I would say,

然後話：

"Three feet by 15 feet, whatever you want.

「三尺乘十五尺，隨你點整。

Let me know if you have any problem with that."

你有咩問題就揾我。」

And they would go and install these. It just was the greatest thing.

佢哋就開工。真係好正

But the greatest thing, actually, was --

最正嘅係

Every once in a while,

間中

I'd get, like, an invitation in the mail made of construction paper,

我會收到繪畫紙做嘅請柬

and it would say, "You are invited to the opening of our new library."

請我參加某個圖書館

So you'd go to the library, say, you'd go to PS10,

譬如，PS10 圖書館，嘅開放典禮

and you'd go inside.

去到嗰度

There'd be balloons, there'd be a student ambassador,

裡面有氣球，有學生大使

there'd be speeches that were read,

有演講

poetry that was written specifically for the opening,

有贈興詩

dignitaries would present people with certificates,

有重要人物發獎狀

and the whole thing was just a delirious, fun party.

直程成個好開心同瘋狂嘅派對

So I loved going to these things.

我好鍾意去呢種派對

I would stand there dressed like this, obviously not belonging,

我會著成咁，企起度，格格不入

and someone would say, "What are you doing here, mister?"

有人會問我：「先生，你嚟做咩？」

And I'd say, "Well, I'm part of the team that designed this place."

我會話：「我係設計團隊嘅成員。」

And they'd said, "You do these shelves?"

佢哋問：「你設計咗啲書櫃？」

And I said, "No." "You took the pictures up above."

「唔係。」

「你影咗牆上邊嘅相？」

"No."

「唔係。」

"Well, what did you do?"

「咁你做咗咩？」

"You know when you came in? The sign over the door?"

「你入嚟時有冇睇到門上邊嘅標誌？」

"The sign that says library?"

「圖書館嗰幾只字？」

(Laughter)

"Yeah, I did that!"

（笑聲）

「係啊。係我整嘅！」

And then they'd sort of go, "OK. Nice work if you can get it."

佢哋會話：「 咁都得。」

So it was so satisfying going to these little openings

總之，圖書館嘅開放儀式令我好滿足

despite the fact that I was kind of largely ignored or humiliated,

就算冇人理我，就算我俾人笑

but it was actually fun going to the openings,

真係好好玩

so I decided that I wanted to get the people in my office

於是乎，我將參加過呢個計劃嘅

who had worked on these projects, get the illustrators and photographers,

插圖家、攝影師叫嚟

and I said, why don't we rent a van

我話，不如租架大車

and drive around the five boroughs of New York

橫穿喺紐約五個區

and see how many we could hit at one time.

睇下我哋一次可以去到幾個圖書館

And eventually there were going to be 60 of these libraries,

計劃結束時有 60 個咁樣嘅圖書館

so we probably got to see maybe half a dozen in one long day.

我哋一日可能睇到半打

And the best thing of all was meeting these librarians

最好嘅係，我哋會見到啲圖書管理員

who kind of were running these, took possession of these places

佢哋係圖書館真正嘅主人

like their private stage upon which they were invited

喺佢哋嘅私人舞台上

to mesmerize their students and bring the books to life,

佢哋使書本有生命 使學生著迷

and it was just this really exciting experience

我好激動能夠親眼睇到

for all of us to actually see these things in action.

佢哋做嘅工作

So we spent a long day doing this

我哋用咗成日從一個個圖書館咁參觀

and we were in the very last library.

到咗最尾嗰個圖書館

It was still winter, because it got dark early,

嗰時仲係冬天，天黑得好快

and the librarian says,

個圖書管理員話：

"I'm about to close down. So really nice having you here.

「我要閂門喇。 好高興你哋嚟探我。

Hey, wait a second, do you want to see how I turn off the lights?"

你要唔要睇我熄燈？」

I'm like, "OK."

我話：「好啊。」

And she said, "I have this special way that I do it."

佢話：「我有一套特殊嘅程序。」

And then she showed me.

佢整畀我睇

What she did was she turned out every light one by one by one by one,

佢先將其他燈一盞一盞咁熄曬

and the last light she left on

細路壁畫嘅燈留到最後

was the light that illuminated the kids' faces,

and she said, "That's the last light I turn off every night,

佢話：「我晚晚最尾熄呢盞燈，

because I like to remind myself why I come to work."

因為我想提醒自己 嚟返工嘅理由。」

So when I started this whole thing,

我開始做呢個項目時

remember, it was just about designing that logo

就淨係諗住設計個標誌

and being clever, come up with a new name?

耍啲小聰明，起個新名

The unintended consequence here,

我想話，啲意外嘅效果

which I would like to take credit for

我想認係我嘅功勞

and like to think I can think through the experience to that extent,

係我深思熟慮之後嘅結果

but I can't.

但係我唔可以

I was just focused on a foot ahead of me, as far as I could reach with my own hands.

我其實就係見步行步

Instead, way off in the distance

殊不知，我哋做嘅嘢

was a librarian

會一件事連一件事咁

who was going to find the chain of consequences

影響好多人同事

that we had set in motion,

喺好耐以後，間接咁

a source of inspiration

畀一個圖書管理員

so that she in this case could do her work really well.

靈感同動力

40,000 kids a year are affected by these libraries.

呢啲圖書館每年影響四萬個細路

They've been happening for more than 10 years now,

已經影響咗十年，啲圖書管理員

so those librarians have kind of turned on a generation of children to books

已經使一代嘅細路鍾意上讀書

and so it's been a thrill to find out

令人激動嘅係

that sometimes unintended consequences are the best consequences.

有時意外嘅效果係最好嘅結果

Thank you very much.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）