Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design by Debbie Millman

Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design Reviews

• 
  Eric

  This is a brave and daring book, well complemented by its unique and expressive design. Only fitfully, though, is it genuine and moving. The conceit—very successful branding executive writes a collection of short memoir pieces to try and locate her relationship to design—is certainly unique. (I'm jealous I didn't think of it first and then try to write it.) But that's exactly the problem. Branding executives are pied pipers and pedantic by nature. That's the job, actually. Trumpet our clients' aims as if they were the solution to all the world's problems, and then have a really well-reasoned and clear rationale for the work we do in support of them. (The numerous designer glitterati blurbs on the back cover are enough hyperbolic purchasing rationale for five books, let alone one.)
  
  The best literature, though, is about doubt, raising questions, and the subtle implication of one's aims through narrative. Too many of Millman's pieces try too hard to validate brands and our relationships to them. They come off like highbrow pitch presentations which ring hollow in this context. She does better when making more subtle connections between life and design, though too often Millman concludes these stories by over-explaining the bigger points she's trying to make. As if she didn't trust the reader to intuit them on his or her own, and thus sounding like new age advice, rather than rich, candid anecdotes. Only at the end of the book does she trust the honesty in her writing by leaving out the overbearing justifications for it.
  
  
• 
  Christina

  I really wanted to like this but it just felt sort of ... self-indulgent and repetitive and annoying. Like I think young Debbie and her obsession with having brands maybe had a problem. Sometimes she hints that she's since learned deeper truths but it felt forced. Didn't quite work for me.
• 
  Margaret Heller

  I finally understood myself after reading this book.
• 
  Emma Sea

  On page 184 Millman boasts that she didn't like Cloverfield. I'd like to say this didn't influence my dislike of the book, but I can't promise it.
  
  I felt many of her essays were pedestrian, and the attempt to link them to design philosophy felt artificial and forced. Printing them in quirky, over-sized, type/handwriting/embroidery/index cards did not help.
  
  Just not my book, I guess.
• 
  Jacob Holloway

  I've been a long-time fan of Debbie's podcast for her sentimental and narrative approach to design, so this book was a delightful behind-the-scenes/before-they-were-stars glimpse for me. I even discovered some similarities in our early experience of life, which undoubtedly contributes to my fondness for her perspective. She speaks of an early incapacity for certainty, and of a later aversion to "choosing one", and this book is a personal celebration of the glorious tangle of life as a passionate-but-a-bit-insecure artist and designer.
  
  Debbie comes across as somewhat of an unapologetic brand enthusiast but, in a time where consumerism is oft-maligned, she connects with the powerful source of our desire for safety, beauty, love, and all that we are promised in this modern age. And then she turns it on its head with a swift, lyrical slap.
  
  What's more: Beyond the substance of her words, her illustrations are equally personalized and enthralling.
• 
  Suzi Baum

  There are few books I cling to my chest after reading them and this is one...partly because the Debbie Millman and I came of age at a similar time and things like sewing clothes and packaging and Diane Keaton and style and Andy Warhol and all those things impacted my sense of design, but also because the pages are written by HAND! Oh, I just love the way this book looks.
  
  This book is a must read for people who are curious about design and how it impacts us, it is a very personal memoir written from a visual point of view with gorgeous layout and type design.
  
  I cannot tell you enough, this book is delicious.
• 
  Jennifer

  Visual essays that are so beautifully done, they inspire me on multiple levels.
  
  I'd love to journal this way - if only.
  
  
• 
  Hewi

  "Childlike" is a word often looked down upon but I believe Millman truly encapsulates it beautifully in her sense of wonder. I personally found solace in someone else with so much pride in sentimentality and collections. Her writings are incredibly thoughtful and loving in details, seemingly being someone who is truly living. She has a great understanding of communication, easily exuding her emotions and passions in both prose and design. Not reading a physical copy of this was truly unfortunate. Her essays cover overlapping topics of branding, memorabilia, design, decisions, knowing and not knowing, art, gratitude, and memory. The only flaw is sometimes too strong of an overlap, becoming repetitive (this should be a 9/10 but goodreads doesn't have half stars?). I am really quite glad I happened upon her poem "The Saddest Poem I Have Ever Written" which inspired me to read this and I recommend a read to those that enjoyed. Ultimately, this was a wonderfully short, provocative, and reassuring read.
• 
  sarah

  I'm a long-time fan of Debbie's podcast, and after reading her diary images on Brainpickings, I decided to go for the gold and actually read her book.
  
  The book is more memoir than anything else, recounting her young experiences with brands, design, and career decisions. The essays are a peek into her inner-life, but really, they're not anything you didn't already get from what you saw-on-the-internet.
  
  Even though I found the book somewhat superficial in its' meditations on design-life, I had to give this 4 stars for its' incredible illustrations. (I think) Debbie both wrote and illustrated each essay, which as a whole, serve as a beautiful and varied way to communicate through text. I was excited to move on to each essay, just to see how the reading experience changed with the new design.
• 
  Linda Knight

  I absolutely loved this book. Millman's life events had a certain synergy with my own, but more than that I love how the conventions of the type and layout are played with and contested. Millman's thoughts and theories on life are witty and intelligent and expose how some of us 'arty types' connect with the world.
• 
  Carolee Wheeler

  Maybe I've seen too many things influenced by this sort of work. Or maybe it's the other way around. Good reminders, sort of interesting non-specific thoughts about general life things. Why not read it? It's not totally like other things you've already read.......
• 
  Melanie Biehle

  I LOVED this book. So many of Debbie's essays spoke to me, and the design is truly beautiful.
• 
  Dan

  There is always something new to dream of and always different dreams to choose. And you don't have to pick just one.
• 
  Audrey

  More of an autobiography of sorts....the most interesting part was the typography. Otherwise it's more of an homage to brand (design) and the power of marketing.