So there's this thing called the law of unintended consequences. I thought it was just like a saying, but it actually exists, I guess. There's, like, academic papers about it. And I'm a designer. I don't like unintended consequences. People hire me because they have consequences that they really intend, and what they intend is for me to help them achieve those consequences. So I live in fear of unintended consequences. And so this is a story about consequences intended and unintended.
On olemas selline asi nagu ettekavatsemata tagajärgede seadus. Mõtlesin, et nii lihtsalt öeldakse, aga see on vist tegelikult ka olemas, seda on isegi teaduslikult uuritud. Mina olen disainer. Mulle ootamatud tagajärjed ei istu. Mind palgatakse siis, kui teatakse, mida tahetakse saavutada ja minu töö on aidata selle tulemuseni jõuda. Nii et ma kohe kardan igasuguseid ootamatuid tagajärgi. See lugu ongi plaanitud ja plaanimata tagajärgedest.
I got called by an organization called Robin Hood to do a favor for them. Robin Hood is based in New York, a wonderful philanthropic organization that does what it says in the name. They take from rich people, give it to poor people. In this case, what they wanted to benefit was the New York City school system, a huge enterprise that educates more than a million students at a time, and in buildings that are like this one, old buildings, big buildings, drafty buildings, sometimes buildings that are in disrepair, certainly buildings that could use a renovation. Robin Hood had this ambition to improve these buildings in some way, but what they realized was to fix the buildings would be too expensive and impractical. So instead they tried to figure out what one room they could go into in each of these buildings, in as many buildings that they could, and fix that one room so that they could improve the lives of the children inside as they were studying. And what they came up with was the school library, and they came up with this idea called the Library Initiative. All the students have to pass through the library. That's where the books are. That's where the heart and soul of the school is. So let's fix these libraries.
Minuga võttis ühendust selline organisatsioon nagu Robin Hood ja palus, et ma neid aitaksin. Robin Hood on New Yorgis asuv heategevuslik organisatsioon, mis, nagu nimigi ütleb, võtab rikastelt ära ja annab vaestele. Seekord võtsid nad nõuks toetada New Yorgi koolivõrku, tohutut masinavärki, kus õpib üle miljonile õpilase koolimajades, mis näevad välja nagu see vanad, suured ja kõledad hooned, sageli väga armetus olukorras majad, mis vajaksid hädasti remonti. Robin Hood tahtis neid koolimaju kuidagi paremaks teha, aga nad said aru, et hoonete täielik remont oleks liiga kallis ja teostamatu. Selle asemel püüti mõelda, mis võiks olla see üks ruum mille saaks igas koolis ette võtta, võimalikult paljudes koolimajades, ja teha see ruum täiesti korda, nii et kõikidel selle kooli õpilastel, oleks sellest kasu. Jõuti otsusele, et see koht on kooli raamatukogu, sellest sündis algatus nimetusega Library Initiative. Kõik õpilased käivad ju raamatukogus, sest seal on raamatud, raamatukogu on kooli hing ja süda. Tehkem raamatukogud korda!
So they did this wonderful thing where they brought in first 10, then 20, then more architects, each one of whom was assigned a library to rethink what a library was. They trained special librarians. So they started this mighty enterprise to reform public schools by improving these libraries. Then they called me up and they said, "Could you make a little contribution?" I said, "Sure, what do you want me to do?" And they said, "Well, we want you to be the graphic designer in charge of the whole thing." And so I thought, I know what that means. That means I get to design a logo. I know how to design that. I design logos. That's what people come to me for. So OK, let's design a logo for this thing. Easy to do, actually, compared with architecture and being a librarian. Just do a logo, make a contribution, and then you're out, and you feel really good about yourself. And I'm a great guy and I like to feel good about myself when I do these favors.
Nõnda sai alguse imetore ettevõtmine, kuhu kaasati esmalt 10, siis 20 ja siis veel rohkem arhitekti. Igaühele anti üks raamatukogu, et mõtestada ümber raamatukogu olemus. Koolitati välja raamatukogutöötajad, alustati mastaapse projektiga, et reformida riigikoole alustades raamatukogudest. Minult küsiti, kas ma saaksin sellesse ettevõtmisse panustada. Vastasin, et sobib, mida vaja teha? Nad ütlesid, et tahaksid, et oleksin graafiline disainer, kes kogu asja eest vastutab. Arvasin, et minult tahetakse, et teeksin neile logo. Seda ma oskan, logod on minu teema, see ongi mu igapäevatöö. Hea küll, kujundame siis logo. Midagi rasket siin pole võrreldes arhitekti ja raamatukoguhoidja tööga. Lihtsalt üks logo valmis ja asi ants, endal ka hea tunne, et olen lahke mees ja saan kellelegi head teha.
So I thought, let's overdeliver. I'm going to give you three logos, all based on this one idea. So you have three options, pick any of the three. They're all great, I said. So the basic idea was these would be new school libraries for New York schools, and so the idea is that it's a new thing, a new idea that needs a new name. What I wanted to do was dispel the idea that these were musty old libraries, the kind of places that everyone is bored with, you know, not your grandparents' library. Don't worry about that at all. This is going to this new, exciting thing, not a boring library.
Nii mõtlesingi, et teeks rohkem. Teen selle idee põhjal lausa kolm logo. Teil on siin kolm varianti, valige ükskõik milline, kõik sobivad suurepäraselt. Projekti eesmärgiks oli, et NEW Yorgi koolid saaksid uued (NEW) raamatukogud, kuna see on täiesti UUS lähenemine, siis tuleks asjale anda ka UUS nimi. Tahtsin saada lahti kuvandist, et raamatukogu on kulunud, tolmune, surmigavad ja mõttetud kohad, et raamatukogu oma aja ära elanud. Pole probleemi. Teeme midagi uut ja lahedat, mitte mingit mõttetut kohta.
So option number one: so instead of thinking of it as a library, think of it as a place where it is like: do talk, do make loud noises. Right? So no shushing, it's like a shush-free zone. We're going to call it the Reading Room.
Esimene variant: tavapärase raamatukogu asemel on uus koht selline, kus on OK juttu rääkida ja valju häält teha. Onju? Keegi ei sisista “Psssst!”, see on pssst!-vaba tsoon. Mõtlesime, et nimeks võiks olla Lugemistuba.
That was option number one. OK, option number two. Option number two was, wait for it, OWL. I'll meet you at OWL. I'm getting my book from the OWL. Meet you after school down at OWL. I like that, right? Now, what does OWL stand for? Well, it could be One World Library, or it could be Open. Wonder. Learn. Or it could be -- and I figure librarians could figure out other things it could be because they know about words. So other things, right? And then look at this. It's like the eye of the owl. This is irresistible in my opinion.
See oli esimene variant. Variant number kaks, pange nüüd tähele, oli... ...OWL (öökull). Saame OWLis kokku! “Võtan OWList oma raamatu." "Kohtume peale kooli OWLis.” Lahe mu arust, eks? Mida OWL tähendab? Näiteks One World Library, või Open (ava), Wonder (taha teada), Learn (õpi). Või hoopis -- usun, et raamatukogu töötajatel oleks veel variante, sest nad on osavad sõnasepad. Nii et, mida iganes. Vaadake, see siin on kui öökulli silm, täiesti vastupandamatu.
But there's even another idea. Option number three. Option number three was based actually on language. It's the idea that "read" is the past tense of "read," and they're both spelled the same way. So why don't we call this place The Red Zone? I'll meet you at the Red Zone. Are you Red? Get Red. I'm well Red.
Aga oli veel üks mõte. Variant number kolm. Variant kolm oli tuletatud inglise keele grammatikast. Sõna “read” (loetud/luges) kirjapilt on sama, mis sõnal “red” (punane), Nimetaks selle koha Punaseks Tsooniks? Kohtume Punases/Lugemise Tsoonis. Oled juba lugenud/punane? Loe läbi/saa punaseks! Olen palju lugenud/väga punane.
(Laughter)
(Naer)
I really loved this idea, and I somehow was not focused on the idea that librarians as a class are sort of interested in spelling and I don't know.
Mulle see idee väga meeldis ja mul läks juhtumisi meelest, et raamatukogutöötajad on õigekirja osas väga tundlikud.
(Laughter)
(Naer)
But sometimes cleverness is more important than spelling, and I thought this would be one of those instances. So usually when I make these presentations I say there's just one question and the question should be, "How can I thank you, Mike?" But in this case, the question was more like, "Um, are you kidding?" Because, they said, the premise of all this work was that kids were bored with old libraries, musty old libraries. They were tired of them. And instead, they said, these kids have never really seen a library. The school libraries in these schools are really so dilapidated, if they're there at all, that they haven't bored anyone. They haven't even been there to bore anyone at all. So the idea was, just forget about giving it a new name. Just call it, one last try, a library. Right? OK. So I thought, OK, give it a little oomph? Exclamation point? Then -- this is because I'm clever -- move that into the "i," make it red, and there you have it, the Library Initiative. So I thought, mission accomplished, there's your logo. So what's interesting about this logo, an unintended consequence, was that it turned out that they didn't really even need my design because you could type it any font, you could write it by hand, and when they started sending emails around, they just would use Shift and 1, they'd get their own logo just right out of the thing. And I thought, well, that's fine. Feel free to use that logo. And then I embarked on the real rollout of this thing -- working with every one of the architects to put this logo on the front door of their own library. Right?
Aga vahel on vaimukus tähtsam kui ortograafia ja mulle paistis, et antud juhul ongi. Tavaliselt ütlen oma ideed tutvustades, et teil saab olla vaid üks küsimus: “Kuidas sind küll tänada, Mike?" Aga sel korral küsiti pigem, “Sa teed nalja või?” Nad selgitasid mulle, et minu idee lähtub eeldusest, et lapsed on tüdinud kulunud tolmustest raamatukogudest, mis neile üldse ei meeldi. Asi oli hoopis selles, et lapsed polnud raamatukogu näinudki. Nendes koolides olid raamatukogud nii armetud, et isegi kui raamatukogu olemas oli, ei olnud lapsed seal käinud. Mida ei teata, see ei saa ka ära tüüdata. Nii polnud mõtet tegeleda uue nime leiutamisega. Prooviks nimetada asja siiski raamatukoguks. Heakene küll. Mõtlesin siis, et lisaks veidi värvi. Paneks hüüumärgi? Ja siis olin ma nii kaval, et paneks selle hüüumärgi “i” kohale, ja teeks punaseks, nii oleks meil L!brary Initiative. Tundus, et tehtud, logo olemas. Selle logo ettenägematuks tagajärjeks oli aga see, et tegelikult polnud neil minu disaini isegi vaja, sest seda sai igas kirjastiilis trükkida või käsitsi kirjutada, e-mailis tuli lihtsalt vajutada Shift+1. Logo sündis suurema vaevata justkui iseenesest. Mõtlesin siis, et mis seal ikka. Kasutage julgelt seda logo. Siis aga tabasin ära, mida olime tegelikult saavutanud: koostöö kõikide nende arhitektidega, et saaks selle logo panna raamatukogu uksele, eks ole?
So here's the big rollout. Basically I'd work with different architects. First Robin Hood was my client. Now these architects were my client. I'd say, "Here's your logo. Put it on the door." "Here's your logo. Put it on both doors." "Here's your logo. Put it off to the side." "Here's your logo repeated all over to the top." So everything was going swimmingly. I just was saying, "Here's your logo. Here's your logo."
Tegelik saavutus seisnes hoopis muus. Töötasin erinevate arhitektidega. Esmalt oli mu kliendiks Robin Hood. Seejärel said mu klientideks arhitektid. Ütlen neile: “Siin on logo. Pange uksele." “Pange see logo ukse mõlemale poole.” “Pange see logo siia külje peale.” “Siin on need logod üle kogu ukse.” Kõik läks kui lepase reega. Pidin kõigile lihtsalt seda logo näitama.
Then I got a call from one of the architects, a guy named Richard Lewis, and he says, "I've got a problem. You're the graphics guy. Can you solve it?" And I said, OK, sure." And he said, "The problem is that there's a space between the shelf and the ceiling." So that sounds like an architectural issue to me, not a graphic design issue, so I'm, "Go on." And Richard says, "Well, the top shelf has to be low enough for the kid to reach it, but I'm in a big old building, and the ceilings are really high, so actually I've got all this space up there and I need something like a mural." And I'm like, "Whoa, you know, I'm a logo designer. I'm not Diego Rivera or something. I'm not a muralist." And so he said, "But can't you think of anything?" So I said, "OK, what if we just took pictures of the kids in the school and just put them around the top of the thing, and maybe that could work." And my wife is a photographer, and I said, "Dorothy, there's no budget, can you come to this school in east New York, take these pictures?" And she did, and if you go in Richard's library, which is one of the first that opened, it has this glorious frieze of, like, the heroes of the school, oversized, looking down into the little dollhouse of the real library, right? And the kids were great, hand-selected by the principals and the librarian. It just kind of created this heroic atmosphere in this library, this very dignified setting below and the joy of the children above.
Siis sain aga kõne arhitektilt, kelle nimi on Richard Lewis. Ta ütles, et tal on probleem: “Sa jagad seda graafikat, äkki saad aidata?” Ütlesin, et OK. Ta ütles, et probleem on selles, et riiulite ja lae vahele jääb tühimik. Probleem tundus pigem arhitektuuriline kui graafilise disaini teema, palusin lähemalt selgitada. Richard selgitas, et ülemine riiul peab olema piisavalt madalal, et lapsed sinna ulataks, aga see on vana kõrgete lagedega maja ja sinna vahele jääb lai tühimik, kus võiks olla mingi seinamaaling. Ütlesin talle, et pidagu nüüd hoogu, ma teen logosid ja pole mingi Diego Rivera, ma ei tee seinamaalinguid. Aga ta käis peale, et ma midagi ikka välja mõtleks ja nii tuli mõte, et teeks pilte selle kooli õpilastest ja paneks siis need riiulite kohale, äkki see oleks hea lahendus. Mu naine on fotograaf, ütlesin talle: "Dorothy, selle eest ei maksta, aga kas saaksid tulla ühte New Yorgi kooli pilte tegema?” Ja ta tuligi. Ja kui nüüd minna Richardi raamatukokku, mis on üks esimesi, mis avati, siis näete seinal reas hiiglasuuri kooli staare, kes justkui vaatavad alla raamatukogu väiksesse nukumajja. Lapsed olid nii vahvad, õpetajad ja raamatukoguhoidjad valisid ise need õpilased välja. Raamatukogus tekkis võimas atmosfäär, kus alloleva väärika ruumi peale vaatavad ülalt rõõmsad lapsed.
So naturally all the other librarians in the other schools see this and they said, well, we want murals too. And I'm like, OK. So then I think, well, it can't be the same mural every time, so Dorothy did another one, and then she did another one, but then we needed more help, so I called an illustrator I knew named Lynn Pauley, and Lynn did these beautiful paintings of the kids. Then I called a guy named Charles Wilkin at a place called Automatic Design. He did these amazing collages. We had Rafael Esquer do these great silhouettes. He would work with the kids, asking for words, and then based on those prompts, come up with this little, delirious kind of constellation of silhouettes of things that are in books. Peter Arkle interviewed the kids and had them talk about their favorite books and he put their testimony as a frieze up there. Stefan Sagmeister worked with Yuko Shimizu and they did this amazing manga-style statement, "Everyone who is honest is interesting," that goes all the way around. Christoph Niemann, brilliant illustrator, did a whole series of things where he embedded books into the faces and characters and images and places that you find in the books. And then even Maira Kalman did this amazing cryptic installation of objects and words that kind of go all around and will fascinate students for as long as it's up there.
Ja kui siis teiste koolide raamatukoguhoidjad seda nägid, tahtsid nad ka selliseid pilte. Hea küll siis. Mulle tundus, et igal pool ei saa olla ju sama pilt, ja nii tegi Dorothy tegi veel pilte ühte ja teise kooli, aga siis vajasime juba lisajõudu, ja ma helistasin tuttavale illustraatorile Lynn Pauleyle, kes neid armsaid lapsi maalis. Siis helistasin Charles Wilkinile kes töötab Automatic Designis. Tema tehtud on need lahedad kollaažid. Kutsusime Rafael Esqueri, kes tegi vahvaid kujutisi. Ta rääkis lastega ja lasi neil öelda sõnu ja tegi nendest siis igasuguseid naljakaid kompositsioone raamatutegelaste piltidest. Peter Arkle rääkis lastega nende lemmikraamatutest ja kirjutas nende mõtted seinale. Stefan Sagmeister ja Yuko Shmizu tegid koos väga laheda manga stiilis loosungi: “Kõik, kes on ausad, on ka huvitavad”, mis on kirjutatud üle nelja seina. Christoph Niemann, andekas illustraator, tegi mitmeid maalinguid, kus raamatud olid joonistatud juturaamatutest tuttavatele nägudele, tegelastele ja kohtadesse. Ja siis isegi Maira Kalman kes tegi salapärase installatsiooni igasugu asjadest ja sõnadest mis on üle kogu seina ja mida lapsed saavad siis uudistada kuni see seal üleval püsib.
So this was really satisfying, and basically my role here was reading a series of dimensions to these artists, and I would say, "Three feet by 15 feet, whatever you want. Let me know if you have any problem with that." And they would go and install these. It just was the greatest thing.
Mulle meeldis see väga ja minu osaks oli kunstnikele mõõtude etteandmine stiilis: “1 x 4,5 meetrit, tehke, mida tahate. Öelge, kui mingi mure tekib.” Ja nad tegid sinna, mis nad tahtsid. See oli kohutavalt lahe!
But the greatest thing, actually, was -- Every once in a while, I'd get, like, an invitation in the mail made of construction paper, and it would say, "You are invited to the opening of our new library." So you'd go to the library, say, you'd go to PS10, and you'd go inside. There'd be balloons, there'd be a student ambassador, there'd be speeches that were read, poetry that was written specifically for the opening, dignitaries would present people with certificates, and the whole thing was just a delirious, fun party. So I loved going to these things. I would stand there dressed like this, obviously not belonging, and someone would say, "What are you doing here, mister?" And I'd say, "Well, I'm part of the team that designed this place." And they'd said, "You do these shelves?" And I said, "No." "You took the pictures up above." "No." "Well, what did you do?" "You know when you came in? The sign over the door?" "The sign that says library?"
Aga kõige lahedam oli see, et iga natukese aja tagant leidsin oma postkastist ehituspapist valmistatud kutse: “Olete oodatud meie uue raamatukogu avamisele.” Ja siis lähed sinna raamatukokku, mis on tavaline linnakool, ja kui lähed sisse, siis on seal uhked õhupallid, seal on õpilaste esindaja, peetakse kõnesid, loetakse luulet, mis on kirjutatud ekstra avamise puhuks, tähtsad asjamehed annavad üle tänukirju ja kogu see üritus on üks meeletult lõbus pidu. Mulle nii meeldis avamistel käia. Olin samamoodi riides kui praegu, erinedes teistest kohaolijatest, ja mõni tuleb küsima, et härra, mis teie siin teete? Vastan talle, et olen üks neist, kes selle koha kujundas. Siis küsitakse, et kas teie tegite need riiulid? Vastan, et ei. “Kas teie tegite need pildid?” "Ei" “Aga mis te siis tegite?” “Kas märkasite sisse tulles seda kirja ukse kohal, seda silti L!BRARY?”
(Laughter)
(Naer)
"Yeah, I did that!" And then they'd sort of go, "OK. Nice work if you can get it." So it was so satisfying going to these little openings despite the fact that I was kind of largely ignored or humiliated, but it was actually fun going to the openings, so I decided that I wanted to get the people in my office who had worked on these projects, get the illustrators and photographers, and I said, why don't we rent a van and drive around the five boroughs of New York and see how many we could hit at one time. And eventually there were going to be 60 of these libraries, so we probably got to see maybe half a dozen in one long day. And the best thing of all was meeting these librarians who kind of were running these, took possession of these places like their private stage upon which they were invited to mesmerize their students and bring the books to life, and it was just this really exciting experience for all of us to actually see these things in action. So we spent a long day doing this and we were in the very last library. It was still winter, because it got dark early, and the librarian says, "I'm about to close down. So really nice having you here. Hey, wait a second, do you want to see how I turn off the lights?" I'm like, "OK." And she said, "I have this special way that I do it." And then she showed me. What she did was she turned out every light one by one by one by one, and the last light she left on was the light that illuminated the kids' faces, and she said, "That's the last light I turn off every night, because I like to remind myself why I come to work."
“See on minu tehtud!” Selle peale öeldakse: “Noh, asi seegi.” Aga mul oli väga tore nendel avamistel käia, kuigi mind ignoreeriti ja alandati seal päris kõvasti. Aga ikka oli väga lahe, nii et ma otsustasin kutsuda kokku need, kes selles projektis osalesid, kõik kunstnikud ja fotograafid, ütlesin neile, et mis oleks, kui rendiks bussi ja sõidaks läbi New Yorgi viie linnaosa ja vaataks mitmesse raamatukokku jõuame. Lõpuks sai neid raamatukogusid 60, jõudsime ühe pika päeva jooksul näha vaid 5-6 raamatukogu. Kõige toredamad olid kohtumised raamatukoguhoidjatega, kes olid raamatukogud südamega oma hoole alla võtnud, justkui oleks see nende väike lava, kus nad saavad õpilasi lummata ja anda raamatutele elu. Meie jaoks oli ääretult põnev näha, kuidas see tegelikult tõesti toimib. Käisime terve päeva raamatukogudes ja olime jõudnud viimasesse raamatukokku. Väljas oli ikka talv ja läks vara pimedaks, raamatukoguhoidja ütles, et hakkab sulgema ja tore, et saime läbi astuda. “Aga oodake," ütles ta, "kas tahaksite näha, kuidas ma tulesid kustutan?” Ütlesin, et OK. Ta ütles, et tal on selleks oma nipp. Ja siis ta näitas mulle. Ta pani kõik tuled ükshaaval kustu ja viimane tuli, mis ta põlema jättis, oli see, mis valgustas laste nägusid. Ta ütles: “Selle tule kustutan ma igal õhtul viimasena, sest see tuletab mulle meelde, miks ma siin töötan.”
So when I started this whole thing, remember, it was just about designing that logo and being clever, come up with a new name? The unintended consequence here, which I would like to take credit for and like to think I can think through the experience to that extent, but I can't. I was just focused on a foot ahead of me, as far as I could reach with my own hands. Instead, way off in the distance was a librarian who was going to find the chain of consequences that we had set in motion, a source of inspiration so that she in this case could do her work really well. 40,000 kids a year are affected by these libraries. They've been happening for more than 10 years now, so those librarians have kind of turned on a generation of children to books and so it's been a thrill to find out that sometimes unintended consequences are the best consequences.
Kui selle projektiga alustasin, mäletate, paistis kogu asi olevat vaid logo ja vaimuka nime väljamõtlemises? Ettekavatsemata tulemus aga, mille eest ma võtaksin au endale ja mida mulle meeldiks arvata, et oskasin ette näha, aga mis nii ei olnud, sest suutsin näha vaid oma jalge ette, kujutada ette vaid käegakatsutavat. Samas oli kuskil olemas raamatukoguhoidja, kes leidis sellest tulemuste jadast, mille olime käivitanud, enda jaoks inspiratsiooniallika, mis innustas teda oma tööd tegema parimal viisil. Nendesse raamatukogudesse jõuab 40 000 last aastas. Projekt on kestnud üle 10 aasta, seega on need raamatukoguhoidjad lugemise juurde toonud terve põlvkonna jagu lapsi ja on suur rõõm olla tunnistajaks, et vahel võivad ettenägematud tagajärjed olla just need kõige paremad tagajärjed.
Thank you very much.
Suur tänu teile.
(Applause)
(Aplaus)