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.
Vo svete existuje niečo, čo voláme zákon nezamýšlaných dôsledkov. Myslel som si, že to sa len tak hovorí, ale ono to asi naozaj existuje. Sú o tom napísané aj akademické štúdie. Ja som dizajnér. Nemám rád nezamýšľané dôsledky. Ľudia ma najímajú, pretože majú dôsledky, ktoré naozaj zamýšľajú, a to, čo zamýšľajú, je, aby som im pomohol dosiahnuť tieto dôsledky. Takže žijem v strachu z nezamýšľaných dôsledkov. Tento príbeh o dôsledkoch zamýšľaných aj nezamýšľaných.
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.
Raz mi zavolala organizácia, ktorá sa volá Robin Hood, a požiadali ma o láskavosť. Robin Hood je v New Yorku a je to skvelá filantropická organizácia, ktorá robí to, čo hovorí jej názov. Berú od bohatých a dávajú chudobným. V tomto prípade chceli, aby benefitoval Newyorský školský systém, obrovský podnik, ktorý v súčasnosti vzdeláva viac než milión študentov v budovách, ako je táto, starých budovách, veľkých budovách, v budovách s prievanom, niekedy v rozpadajúcich sa budovách, rozhodne v budovách, ktorým by sa zišla renovácia. Robin Hood mal ambíciu vylepšiť tieto budovy, ale uvedomili si, že opraviť tieto budovy by bolo príliš drahé a nepraktické. A tak sa miesto toho snažili zistiť, do ktorej jednej miestnosti by mohli vojsť v každej z týchto budov, v toľkých budovách, ako sa len dá, a opraviť túto jednu miestnosť tak, aby mohli zlepšiť životy detí, ktoré tam študujú. Prišli na to, že to bude školská knižnica a prišli s nápadom, ktorý nazvali Library Initiative. Všetci študenti prejdú knižnicou. Je to miesto, kde sú knihy. Miesto, kde je srdce a duša školy. Tak poďme opraviť knižnice.
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.
A tak urobili niečo skvelé. Priviedli najprv 10, potom 20, a potom viac architektov a každému priradili jednu z knižníc, aby premysleli, čo vlastne knižnica je. Vyškolili špeciálnych knihovníkov. Začali tak ohromný podnik reformovania štátnych škôl tým, že tieto knižnice vylepšili. Potom ma zavolali a povedali, „Prispel by si trochu?“ Povedal som, „Jasné, čo mám urobiť?“ Oni povedali, „Nuž, chceme, aby si bol grafický dizajnér, budeš mať všetko na starosti.“ Myslel som si, že viem, čo to znamená – navrhnem logo. Viem, ako to urobiť. Logá dizajnujem. Preto za mnou ľudia chodia. Dobre, vyrobím logo. Je to ľahké, v porovnaní s architektúrou a knihovníkom. Proste urobiť logo, trochu prispieť a som z toho vonku a budem sa cítiť super. Som skvelý chlap a rád sa cítim dobre, keď robím takéto láskavosti.
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.
Pomyslel som si, dám im viac. Dám vám tri logá založené na tom istom nápade. Budete mať 3 možnosti, môžete si vybrať hociktorú. Všetky sú skvelé, povedal som. Princípom bolo, že by to boli nové školské knižnice pre newyorské školy, a teda, že je to niečo nové, nová myšlienka potrebuje nové meno. Chcel som zahnať predstavu, že to sú zatuchnuté staré knižnice, miesta, ktoré všetkých nudia, viete, knižnice starých rodičov. Toho sa vôbec nebojte. Bude to niečo nové, vzrušujúce, nie nudné knižnice.
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.
Možnosť číslo jeden: miesto považovania to za knižnicu, považujme to za miesto, kde sa rozpráva, kde je hlučno. Však? Žiadne „buď ticho“, je to zóna bez „buď ticho“. Budeme to volať Izba na čítanie.
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.
To je možnosť číslo jeden. OK, možnosť číslo dva. Možnosť číslo dva bola, počkajte si, OWL (sova). Stretneme sa v OWL. Beriem si knihy z OWL. Po škole sa stretneme v OWL. To sa mi páči, však? Čo OWL znamená? Nuž, mohlo by to byť One World Library, alebo Open. Wonder. Learn. Alebo – knihovníci môžu prísť na veľa ďalších názvov, pretože vedia o slovách veľa. Takže iné veci, však? Pozrite sa na toto. Vyzerá to ako oko sovy. Podľa mňa sa tomu nedá odolať.
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.
Ale mám ešte iný nápad. Možnosť číslo tri. Možnosť číslo tri je vlastne založená na jazyku. Na tom že „read“ (čítať) je v minulom čase „read“, čo sa hláskuje rovnako, ale znie ako red (červený). Tak prečo to nevolať The Red Zone (červená zóna). Stretneme sa v The Red Zone. Si Red? (červený/sčítaný) Buď Red. Som veľmi Red.
(Laughter)
(smiech)
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.
Miloval som tento nápad, ale nejako som sa nezameral na to, že knihovníci sa zaujímajú o správne hláskovanie, či čo ja viem.
(Laughter)
(smiech)
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?
Ale občas je šikovnosť dôležitejšia než hláskovanie a myslel som si, že to bude jeden z tých prípadov. Väčšinou, keď mám prezentáciu, hovorím, že existuje iba jedna otázka, a tou je, „Ako ti mám poďakovať, Mike?“ Ale v tomto prípade otázka bola skôr: „Hm, žartuješ?“ Pretože, povedali, predpoklad tohto celého bolo to, že deti sú znudené starými, stuchnutými knižnicami. Sú z nich unavené. Ale naopak, povedali, tieto deti nikdy knižnicu nevideli. Školské knižnice v týchto školách sú tak schátrané, ak tam vôbec sú, že nikoho nikdy nenudili. Oni tam vôbec neboli, aby niekoho nudili. Takže myšlienkou bolo nedávať im nové meno. Proste ich budeme volať, na posledný pokus, knižnice. Dobre? OK. Pomyslel som si, OK, čo tak dať tomu malý šmrnc? Výkričník? Potom, pretože som šikovný, posunúť ho namiesto „i“, urobme ho červeným, a je to, Library Initiative (Iniciatíva knižníc). Pomyslel som si, misia splnená, tu je vaše logo. Takže zaujímavé na tomto logu, nezamýšľanom dôsledku, bolo to, že sa ukázalo, že oni vôbec nepotrebovali môj dizajn, pretože toto môžte napísať hocijakým písmom, či ručne a keď začali posielať e-maily, jednoducho použili Shift a 1 a urobili by z toho ich vlastné logo. Pomyslel som si, OK, to je fajn. Kľudne ho použite. A potom som začal pracovať na skutočnej úlohe, spolupráci s architektami, aby sme ho dali na vstupné dvere ich knižnice.
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."
Toto je tá skutočná úloha. V podstate som pracoval s rôznymi architektmi. Najprv bol Robin Hood mojím klientom. Teraz ním boli architekti. Povedal som, „Tu je logo. Daj ho na dvere.“ „Tu je logo. Daj ho na oboje dvere.“ „Tu je logo. Daj ho viac na stranu.“ „Tu je logo viackrát navrchu.“ Všetko išlo jednoducho. Hovoril som len, „Tu je logo. Tu je logo.“
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.
Potom mi zavolal jeden z architektov, chlapík menom Richard Lewis, a povedal, „Mám problém. Ty si grafik. Môžeš ho vyriešiť?“ Povedal som, „OK, iste.“ On povedal, „Problém je, že medzi policami a stropom je priestor.“ To mi znelo ako architektonický problém, nie dizajnérsky, tak som povedal, „Pokračuj.“ Richard povedal, „Nuž, vrchná polica musí byť taká nízka, aby na ňu deti dočiahli, ale ja som vo veľkej starej budove s vysokým stropom, takže mám celý tento priestor a potrebujem nástennú maľbu.“ Ja mu hovorím, „Hej, vieš, ja dizajnujem logá. Nie som Diego Rivera. Nerobím nástenné maľby.“ On sa spýtal, „Ale nemôžeš niečo vymyslieť?“ Tak mu hovorím, „OK, čo ak by sme odfotili deti v škole a zavesili tie fotky tam hore, to by možno pomohlo.“ Moja žena je fotografka, hovorím jej, „Dorothy, nemáme rozpočet, môžeš urobiť tieto fotky v tejto škole vo východnom New Yorku?“ Ona ich pofotila a ak pôjdete do Richardovej knižnice, jednej z prvých, ktoré otvorili, uvidíte tento krásny vlys akoby hrdinov tejto školy, obrovských, ako sa pozerajú dole na túto knižnicu. Tie deti boli skvelé, vybrali ich riaditelia a knihovník. Vytvorilo to heroickú atmosféru v tejto knižnici, toto dôstojné prostredie dole a radosť detí navrchu.
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.
Prirodzene, uvideli to všetci ostatní knihovníci z ostatných škôl a povedali, my chceme také maľby tiež. Tak hovorím, OK. Potom som si pomyslel, nemôže to byť vždy tá istá maľba, preto Dorothy urobila ďalšiu a potom ešte inú, ale potom sme potrebovali pomoc, tak som zavolal ilustrátora Lynna Pauleyho, ktorého poznám. Lynn urobil tieto krásne maľby detí. Potom som zavolal Charlesa Wilkina z Automatic Design. On urobil tieto úžasné koláže. Rafael Esquer vytvoril tieto skvelé siluety. Pracoval s deťmi, pýtal sa ich na slová a na základe toho prišiel s touto trochu bláznivou konšteláciou postáv a vecí z kníh. Peter Arkle sa s deťmi rozprával, nechal ich rozprávať o ich obľúbených knihách a ich svedectvá umiestnil tam hore. Stefan Sagmeister pracoval s Yuko Shimizu a spolu urobili krásne prehlásenie v manga štýle, „Každý, kto je úprimný, je zaujímavý,“ ktoré sa vinie dokola. Christoph Niemann, skvelý ilustrátor, urobil celú sériu, kde vložil knihy do tvárí a postáv, obrázkov a miest, ktoré nájdete v knihách. Dokonca aj Maira Kalman urobila skvelú kryptickú inštaláciu predmetov a slov, ktoré sú kolom dokola a budú inšpirovať študentov tak dlho, ako tam hore budú.
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.
Bolo to veľmi uspokojujúce, pričom mojou úlohou bolo prečítať týmto umelcom rozmery a povedať: „90 centimetrov na 4,5 metra, čo len chceš. Daj mi vedieť, ak s tým máš nejaký problém.“ Oni išli a urobili to. Bola to ohromná vec.
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?"
Ale tá najohromnejšia vec: Občas som poštou dostal pozvánku vyrobenú zo stavebného papiera, na ktorej stálo, „Pozývame vás na otvorenie našej novej knižnice.“ Tak som išiel do tej knižnice, povedzme do PS10, vošiel som dovnútra. Boli tam balóny, bol tam študentský ambasádor, boli tam príhovory, poézia napísaná špeciálne pre toto otvorenie, hodnostári odovzdali ľuďom certifikáty a táto celá vec bola jedna bláznivá oslava. Zbožňoval som tam chodiť. Stál som tam oblečený takto, očividne som nezapadal a niekto povedal, „Pane, čo tu robíte?“ Povedal som, „Nuž, patrím k tímu, ktorý toto miesto dizajnoval.“ Oni povedali, „Urobili ste tieto police?“ Hovorím, „Nie.“ „Urobili ste tie obrázky tam hore.“ „Nie.“ „Tak čo ste urobili?“ „Vieš, keď si vošiel...?“ „Ten nápis, ktorý hovorí knižnica?“
(Laughter)
(smiech)
"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."
"Áno, to som urobil!" A potom povedali niečo také ako, „OK. Dobrá práca.“ Takže bolo uspokojujúce chodiť na tieto malé otvorenia, napriek tomu, že som bol zväčša ignorovaný alebo ponížený, ale bola sranda chodiť na tie otvorenia. Preto som sa rozhodol, že chcem dostať ľudí, ktorí na tom pracovali, do mojej kancelárie – ilustrátorov a fotografov a povedal som, prečo si neprenajať dodávku a jazdiť okolo tých 5 štvrtí New Yorku a uvidíme koľko stihneme na jedenkrát. Nakoniec to bolo 60 knižníc, takže sme videli asi pol tucta počas jedného dlhého dňa. A najlepšie na tom bolo stretnúť všetkých knihovníkov, ktorí ich prevádzkovali a prijali ich vlastníctvo ako ich súkromné javisko, na ktoré boli pozvaní, aby očarili svojich študentov a priviedli knihy k životu. Pre nás všetkých to bola veľmi vzrušujúca skúsenosť – vidieť tieto veci v akcii. Strávili sme týmto jeden dlhý deň a boli sme v úplne poslednej knižnici. Bola zima, pretože sa skoro stmievalo a ten knihovníčka povedala: „Idem akurát zatvoriť. Bolo veľmi pekné vás tu mať. Počkajte, chcete vidieť, ako vypínam svetlá?“ Povedal som, „OK.“ A ona povedala, „Robím to takým špeciálnym spôsobom.“ A potom mi to ukázala. Vypínala svetlá jedno po druhom a posledné svetlo, ktoré nechala svietiť, bolo svetlo, ktoré osvetľovalo tváre detí, a povedala, „Toto svetlo vypínam ako posledné každý večer, pretože rada si pripomínam, prečo chodím do práce.“
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.
Takže keď som túto celú vec začínal, pamätáte, mal som iba nadizajnovať logo a vymyslieť nové meno. Ten nezamýšľaný dôsledok, za ktorý by som rád zobral zásluhy a veril by som, že viem premyslieť zážitok až do takej miery, ale neviem. Sústredil som sa len na krok predo mnou, len tak ďaleko, ako viem dočiahnuť. Namiesto toho, vo veľkej diaľke bola knihovníčka, ktorá mala objaviť reťaz dôsledkov, ktoré sme uviedli do pohybu, zdroj inšpirácie, ktorá jej pomáha robiť jej prácu veľmi dobre. Títo knihovníci každý rok ovplyvnia 40 000 detí. Deje sa to už viac ako 10 rokov. Títo knihovníci natočili generáciu detí ku knihám a bolo napínavé zistiť, že niekedy nezamýšľané dôsledky sú tými najlepšími dôsledkami.
Thank you very much.
Ďakujem veľmi pekne.
(Applause)
(potlesk)