Bob Gill
On October 8, 2013, my classmates and I had a chance to soak up knowledge from acclaimed designer, Bob Gill. He stopped by City Tech to attend our monthly event called “Meet The Pros”. He spoke about his experiences as a designer in the 60s and how he was a co-founder of one of the biggest design firms in the world, Pentagram.
He showed the various designs he created throughout the years on the big screen and told us anecdotes for each. He mentioned that as a designer, it is important to have a mentor. He also divulged his secret to design. His secret was that if he was designing a logo for a laundromat, he would go to a laundromat and get inspiration from that. So in essence, he would immerse himself in whatever job he was in. He had a lot of great advice, which is essential for young designers in training.
Out of all the students in the audience, I had the most questions for him. At one point, I asked Gill so many questions that he said, “I’m not going to answer the young man in the yellow shirt anymore.” That young man was me. Even so, asked my friend Sly to ask him more questions for me.
In closing, as a designer and as a human being; I still have a lot to learn. And people like Bob Gill, who pretty much pioneered and innovated design, still have a lot to give to the world.
