I never had a formal type design education. I studied graphic design and had an interest in type design, but at my university there were only general typography courses. Yet I was intrigued by the mysteries of letter forms.

I’ve never been very good at drawing by hand, and I struggled with mastering Bézier curves. I would guess it really took several years to learn to draw with Béziers and get the results I wanted. It’s nothing that can be taught, except for some basic rules. It only comes to you through practice.

Jens Kutilek.

I don’t think of design as a job. I think of it as—and I hate to use this term for it—more of a calling. If you’re just doing it because it’s a nice job and you want to go home and do something else, then don’t do it, because nobody needs what you’re going to make.Paula Scher.

I worry when I read things about work-life balance. I don’t think of design as a job. I think of it—and I hate to use this term for it—more like a calling. If you’re just doing it because it’s a nice job and you want to go home and do something else, then don’t do it, because nobody needs what you’re going to make. I design because I love it. There’s nothing I’d rather do than embark on something I haven’t designed yet, and try to figure out how to make it. I think it’s totally fun. Maybe it’s selfish to say so, but that’s why I do it. I don’t do it because I’m trying to make money or fill eight hours of a day. Paula Scher.

I balance three major things: getting business, doing business, and educating. If I’m getting business, that means writing a proposal or meeting with a client, showing them Pentagram’s work and talking about whether or not there’s synergy. If I’m doing business, then I’m designing. Paula Scher.

When I’m doing things that are repetitious—when I know what the client is going to say before they say it—then it’s depressing. I’ve been in that position too many times. I’m happiest when I don’t know what the day will be like. I like it when I can walk around, free-fall a little bit, and free-associate, because that’s when I do my best work. I live with a balance of design, painting, and teaching, and those are the three things that I’d like to keep in balance. Paula Scher.

I think graphic design is an important profession because it’s part of what we put out into the world, and it’s what people see and perceive. It’s not just about doing design for the «public good.» The design community currently thinks that if you design something to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, then that’s good, but if you design something for a bank, then that’s bad. I disagree. I think all design matters and all design deserves to be intelligent. Paula Scher.

Once I started to see type as something with spirit and emotion, I could really manipulate it. I never drew very well, so my ability to communicate feeling through typography became really important. Paula Scher.

I went to college thinking I was going to be a painter, but I couldn’t really draw, so I tried other things … It seemed like I wasn’t good at anything, but then … I discovered graphic design. Paula Scher.

I worked at CBS and was responsible for nearly 150 record covers each year. I approached work from what I would describe as a populist viewpoint: I designed things that mixed in popular culture with the goal of engaging people in the cover itself to make them interested in buying the record. That approach has continued to infuse everything I’ve done since. My current identity and environmental graphics work has the same approach to the work I was creating in the music industry. That early foundation was very important in solidifying how I think about things, even though styles and technologies have changed throughout the years. People often say that graphic design is ephemeral, but it’s not. Older designs are still seen in the mainstream; we interact with things that were designed a long time ago. I am amazed at how many people continue to remember the cover I did for Boston’s debut album 38 years ago.

Something else I learned from working in the music industry was how to present my work. Recording artists had contractual cover approval, which meant that I had to present the work to them, and they had to agree to it. I learned very early on how to explain my work to others, and how to get them to appreciate it. If I couldn’t sell my work, then I couldn’t get it made. That lesson has continued to be very important to everything I do.

Paula Scher.

Designers’ biggest problems come from confusing work and passion. I am one of the worst offenders: Not billing for time worked; Writing-off massive parts of budgets; Allowing excitement to affect estimates.

Sometimes I bill improperly because I enjoy design. At others, it’s because we need work, to keep cash flow even. The most embarrassing reason I have for not treating my business like a business is that I feel guilty. I look at deliverables and think, «Those are just images and words; how can I charge that much?»

Of course, this is just anxiety. Pricing is simple: we charge by the time involved. Most jobs look easy until you know what it takes to complete them. This is even worse in design, as good solutions are often simple—which makes them seem like they required little time/effort. (Hah!) Regardless of your hesitations, prospective clients call because of the promise design holds. They don’t buy a commodity; they hire designers to remove obstacles.

Eric Karjaluoto.