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.
有這麼一個東西, 叫做「非預期結果法則」, 我曾以為它就只是説説而已, 但我猜這事實上是存在的。 是有一些學術論文在討論這件事。 我是一名設計師, 所以我很討厭「非預期結果」。 人們聘請我做設計 是因爲他們有所需求, 而且他們多半是因為 希望從我這裡得到想要的成果, 所以我一直很害怕「非預期結果」 給我帶來不好的結果, 而我將要講述的故事是關於 一個預期又不預期的結果。
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.
早前我接到了一個叫羅賓漢 (Robin Hood) 機構的來電, 他們想要我幫忙。 羅賓漢是一個位於紐約, 挺不錯的慈善機構, 他們在做的事當然和慈善有關。 他們接受富人的捐助 去幫助貧困的人們。 但這次他們想要去 幫助紐約市學校的教育系統, 一個巨大的教育企業, 讓超過一百萬名學生接受著教育, 他們在無數的樓房裡就學, 就像這棟房子一樣, 老房子,大房子, 冷颼颼的樓裡, 甚至在一些老古董房子裡, 看起來早就需要翻修了。 羅賓漢機構一直希望能夠 重新整修這些教學樓, 但是他們意識到的是, 去整修這麼多的教學樓 實在是花費太高又不太現實。 所以取而代之,他們試著 在每一棟教學大樓裡找出一個房間, 而且能找到愈多愈大樓愈好, 並修理那間房間, 這樣他們就可以從而改善孩子們 在裡面的學習和生活。 他們最後找到的就是學校的圖書館, 他們想出的這個主意叫做 「圖書館計畫。」 所有的學生都會經過這個圖書館, 那也是所有書籍在的地方。 更是學校的靈魂所在。 所以我們要修整這些圖書館。
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.
他們做了件非常棒的事, 就是他們找了一些建築師來, 先是十個,而後二十個,然後更多, 每一位建築師都開始重新設計 打造他們心中的圖書館。 他們也訓練了很多特別的圖書管理員, 於是他們開始了這個巨大的改造工程, 藉著改造他們的圖書館 從而提高公立學校的教學環境, 他們給我打電話說: 「你願意也來給我們幫點忙嗎?」 我説:「當然, 但是你想要我做什麽呢?」 他們説:「這樣, 我們想要你做個圖形設計師, 去創造出他們的整個理念。」 所以我就想,我知道這是什麼意思, 意思是我要去為他們設計一個標誌。 我知道怎麽設計標誌, 因爲我就是做這個的。 這也是通常人們找我的原因, 所以,好吧,讓我們設計一個標誌。 很簡單的事情,比起去當個建築師, 或是圖書管理員。 只要設計一個標誌, 做一點點貢獻,然後你就完事了。 然後你覺得自己太了不起了。 我是個很了不起的傢夥, 我幫忙別人時都自我感覺良好。
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.
所以我想,那我就溢交吧。 我會給你設計三個標誌, 全部按照同一個理念, 所以你就有三個選擇, 你可以任選其一。 我説,這三個都很棒。 所以我們最基礎的理念就是 新的圖書館, 為紐約的學校所創立的。 所以這個理念意味著新的東西, 新的想法需要一個新的名字。 所以我首先想要做的就是打消人們 對這些老舊圖書館的印象, 每個人都已經厭倦它們了, 你知道,這不是你祖父母的圖書館。 別擔心那些。 這是一個全新的地方, 一個充滿激動的地方, 不是一個無聊的圖書館。
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.
所以第一個選項: 別把它想成一個圖書館, 把它想成一個地方: 你可以講話,你可以製造噪音。 對吧?不用「噓」, 沒有「噓」聲的討論區。 我們把它叫做讀書室。
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.
這就是第一個選項, 好吧,來看第二個選擇。 第二個選擇是,等下, 「OWL。」 我會在「OWL」見你的。 我會從「OWL」拿我的書, 放學後「OWL」見。 就像這樣不是嗎? 但「OWL」到底是什麽? 好吧,它可以意味著一個世界圖書館 (One World Library)。 或者是意味著 開放 (Open),奇蹟 (Wonder), 學習 (Learn)。 或者是──好吧,也許其他 圖書管理員可以想出其他的意思, 還是他們比較瞭解用詞什麼的。 所以還有其他,不是嗎? 現在來看這個, 這就像是貓頭鷹的眼睛。 這在我看來真難不喜歡。
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.
但還有另一個點子, 選項三, 選項三是和英語語言有關。 這是關於單詞「閲讀」的過去式, 依然是「Read」。 他們的拼寫看起來都一樣, 所以為什麽我們不叫這個地方 The Red Zone(紅色音同閲讀)? 我們紅色區 (The Red Zone) 見。 你紅(閱讀)了嗎? 要紅(閱讀)了吧! 我紅(閱讀)了。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
我很喜歡這個主意, 但不知怎麽我沒有選擇這個主意, 因為圖書管理員 才應該對拼寫感興趣,
(Laughter)
我可不懂這些。
(笑聲)
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?
但是有些時候小聰明 可比拼寫重要多了。 我覺得這應該也是一個例子, 通常我就要做個簡報, 一般來説,我做完成果簡報 他們只會問我一個問題,那就是 「麥克,我該怎麽感謝你呢?」 但是這次,我得到的問題居然是: 「啊,你在逗我吧?」 因為他們説, 這些作品的前提是, 孩子對所有老舊的圖書館都厭倦了, 他們不想再去了。 但是這次,這些孩子其實從來 就沒有機會看過圖書館是什麼樣。 這些要建在學校的圖書館 是真正的荒廢了。 如果它們真的在使用的話, 它們根本不會讓任何人厭倦, 因為它們從來就沒有存在過, 去讓任何人感到厭倦。 所以這個初衷沒用, 不用給它取一個新名字。 叫它圖書館就夠了,不用再試了。 好嗎?好吧。 所以我想,好吧,給它一點活力? 用個感嘆號吧? 然後──這是因為我很聰明── 把它放到字母「i」那裡, 把它換成紅色, 好了,圖書館計劃完成。 所以我想好了,完成任務, 要的標誌完工。 所以關於這個標誌 完全是一個非預期的結果, 他們根本不需要我的設計, 因爲你可以用任何字體輸入, 甚至直接手寫, 當他們給我些郵件時, 只需要按住 Shift 和 1 就有了個感嘆號, 他們就能看到他們自己的標誌。 所以我想好吧,那挺不錯的, 每個人都可以隨意使用這個標誌。 然後我的工作才真正開始── 幫助每一個建築師, 把我設計的標誌放在 他們圖書館的前門,對嗎?
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."
這才是最顯眼的展示。 可以説我和不同的建築師一起工作, 一開始,羅賓漢機構是我的客戶 現在這些建築師也成了我的客戶, 我說:「這是你的標誌,放門上吧。」 「這是你的,這兩扇門都給我掛上。」 「這是你的標誌,放在兩邊。」 「這是你們的,全都貼滿。」 所有的就像流水操作一樣。 我只負責說, 「這是你的標誌,這是你的標誌。」
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.
然後一位建築師來問我, 他叫理查德·路易斯, 他說:「我有個問題, 你是那個圖形設計師, 你可以幫我解決下嗎?」 我説:「當然,沒問題。」 他説:「問題是有一個空間 在書架和天花板之間……」 這聽起來像是個建築方面的問題, 可不是圖形設計問題, 但我還是說:「繼續說。」 理查德說:「是這樣, 因爲書架必須要足夠低 孩子們才可以夠到, 但是因爲我們在一個 老式的建築裡,天花板都非常高, 所以上面有很多多餘的空間, 我需要用些東西來填補, 就像壁畫那種。」 然後我就說:「啊?你曉得吧, 我其實只是個標誌設計師而已。 我可不是迪亞哥·里維拉這些大師。 我不是壁畫家啊。」 然後他説:「但是你就 不可以出出主意嗎?」 所以我説:「好吧,要不我們 就拍些學校裡孩子們的照片, 然後把它們放在上面, 也許那樣可以。」 而我妻子就是一位攝影師, 我説:「多蘿西,我沒工資給你, 但是你可以來趟紐約 東城的學校,拍些照片嗎?」 然後她來了, 如果你去理查德的圖書館, 這是最先開放的圖書館之一, 它有一圈輝煌的裝飾, 就像學校裡的英雄, 超大的照片,從上面看下來, 俯視著者小小的玩具屋 一般的閲讀室,不是嗎? 這些孩子真的是非常棒, 每一張笑臉都是校長親自挑選, 當然還有圖書管理員一起。 這就像在圖書館裡製造了 英雄豪邁的氛圍, 這是一個安靜莊嚴的場所, 上面卻洋溢著孩子們歡樂的感情,
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.
所以自然而然地, 其他學校的圖書管理員看到這個, 都説我們也想要壁畫了。 然後,我當然就說可以啦。 但是我想,如果每一次都是相同的 就沒什麽新意了, 所以多蘿西拍攝了另外的一組, 又開始拍攝更多的照片, 但是我們也需要更多的幫助, 所以我打電話給了我認識的 一位插畫師叫琳恩·保利, 琳恩為孩子們 創造了這些漂亮的插畫。 還有從一個叫做自動設計的公司 請了另外一位朋友叫查爾斯·威爾金, 他創作了這些令人驚嘆的拼貼畫。 我們請了拉斐爾·伊斯凱 做了這些了不起的剪影。 他和孩子們一起工作, 聽他們的話, 然後根據那些線索 想出了這瘋狂的一系列圖案, 一些剪影,和一些書裡的東西。 彼得·阿科爾採訪了很多孩子, 把他們最喜歡的書和想法 像對話自白般的形式放在了上面。 斯特凡·塞個梅斯特 和優酷·詩米祖一起, 他們做了這了不起的漫畫設計, 「每一個真誠的人都是有趣的。」 出現在了所有地方。 克里斯托弗·瓦爾兹, 一位天才插畫師, 做了一系列的工作, 他把書中的人物、 畫和地方都做成了壁畫。 甚至麥拉·考曼 把各種物體字母混合在一起, 使他們圍繞著和吸引了 所有到那裡學習的學生。
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.
這實在是太令人滿意和驚艷了, 而我在這做的就是 列舉這些藝術家創造的東西, 我想說: 「在三乘以十五英呎的空間裡, 無論你想要什麽都可以。 如果你有任何問題, 請一定讓我知道。」 他們都會爲你創造出新的設計, 這是一件非常了不起的事情。
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?"
但是更棒的,其實是── 偶爾, 我會收到一些邀請函, 厚厚的勞作紙做的, 上面說:「我們邀請你來 參加我們新圖書館的開幕儀式。」 所以如果你去圖書館, 比如説你去 PS10 圖書館, 你走進裡面。 那裡有著很多氣球,還有學生大使, 還有特別為開幕儀式準備的演説, 或是特意寫的詩歌, 政要也會在場 為人們頒發各種認證和揭幕, 這一切的派對都是 那麼的激動人心和有趣, 所以我很喜歡參加這些活動。 我會站在那裡,穿成這樣, 顯然我有點格格不入, 有些人或許會問我: 「先生,你在這做什麽?」 我會說:「好吧,其實我是 設計這個地方的人之一。」 然後他們會説: 「你是造了這些書架嗎?」 我答道:「不。」 「那你是拍了書架上面的照片嗎?」 「不是。」 「好吧,那你做了什麽呢?」 「你知道你進門的時候 看到門上的那個標誌嗎?」 「你是説那個寫著圖書館的標誌?」
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
"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."
「對了!那是我做的!」 然後他們說:「好吧,挺不錯的, 如果你仔細注意的話。」 所以參加這些小小的 開幕儀式還是讓我有滿足感。 先不管我常常被忽視 或是取笑的事實, 去參加這些活動還是非常有趣的, 所以我決定要找辦公室裡的員工, 特別是那些參與這些項目的人, 像插畫家、攝影師, 我説,為什麽我們不租輛休旅車 走遍整個紐約, 看看我們一次能拿下多少個圖書館。 最終其實我們去了 60 家圖書館, 所以一天我們大概可以 去六家圖書館左右, 最棒的當然就是見那些圖書管理員, 他們運營並管理著圖書館, 對這些地方充滿著熱情, 就像他們自己的小舞臺一樣, 他們能迷住學生, 然後把書帶到他們的世界裡, 這是一段激動人心的經歷, 我們都可以真真切切地 看到這些行動。 所以我們花了一整天去做這些事, 記得我們到了最後一家圖書館。 那個時候還是冬天, 所以天黑得特別早, 圖書管理員說: 「我們就要關門的, 很高興你們能來這裡, 嘿,等一下,你想要看 我怎麼關燈嗎?」 我只好說:「好吧。」 她又說:「我關燈的方式 可不一樣了。」 然後她帶我看, 她做的就是一盞接著一盞的關, 她剩下了最後一盞, 燈光打亮了牆上孩子們的臉龐, 她說:「這永遠是我每天晚上 下班前關掉的最後一盞燈, 因為它提醒著 我在這裡工作的原因。」
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.
所以,記得嗎, 當我開始做這一切的時候, 完完全全就是為了設計一個標誌, 用用我的小聰明, 想一個新的名字嗎? 非預期結果就在這, 我很想居功, 也很想認為自己能透徹理解其經驗, 但是不行。 我只是專心地用我自己的力量, 一步一個脚印的行走, 然而,讓我看到遠方的 是一個普普通通的圖書管理員, 她讓我看到了這一切所帶來的成果, 我們所做的一切, 都是激勵靈感的源泉, 這也是讓她能夠做好工作的原因。 每年有四萬個孩子受益於 這些圖書館, 到現在為止已經有了十年之久, 所以可以說這些圖書管理員 已經開啓了一代孩子們的閲讀之旅, 這是一個振奮人心的發現, 有時候非預期的結果, 也會成為最好的結果。
Thank you very much.
謝謝大家。
(Applause)
(掌聲)