How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer took both a year and a lifetime to write. Many people, near and far, helped make this book possible, and it is my sincere honor to acknowledge their contribution. First and foremost, my eternal gratitude to Steven Heller for recommending me to Allworth Press, and sincere appreciation to Tad Crawford and Nicole Potter-Talling for actually taking his recommendation seriously. I am additionally grateful to Nicole for answering my overwhelming number of questions with kindness, speed, and patience; and to Allison Caplin for her grace under pressure and keen eye.
I am grateful to Simon Williams, my dear partner at Sterling Brands, for all of his support, encouragement, and trust. Sterling is a special place, and I must thank Elliott Calo, Gregory St. John, Clara Hendon, Jen Simon, and, especially, Lisa Grant for everything that they do, every day.
Huge gratitude to the kind and generous people who supported me on the journey toward this book in vast and innumerable ways: Jenny Fenig and Kim Rivielle, Brian Travis, the entire staff at Print magazine (past and present), the authors of Speak Up, Alissa Walker, Bryn Mooth, Ric Grefé and the National and New York Chapters of AIGA, the professional association of design, Richard Wilde and the School of Visual Arts in New York, and my friends at Adobe: Courtney Spain, Joan Bodensteiner, and Ashwini Jamboktar.
My life would not be the same without the love and inspiration that I receive from the remarkable people I am lucky to call friends and family: Marian Bantjes, Pamela DeCesare, Cheryl & Craig Swanson, Armin Vit & Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Simon Lince & Cary Leibowitz, Lisa Francella & Louise Carravone, Sandra Kiersky, John Fulbrook III & Catharine Wragg, Barbara deWilde, Mark Kingsley, Lisa Rousseau, Margie Butler, Marcus & Susan Hewitt, the Feinman family: Lewis, Judith, Ilene, Michael, Cathy, Kenny, Ben, Maia, Jessica, Rebecca, and Erica, Maria Anthis, Alan & Beth Dye, Laura Victore, Brian Rea, Amy Dresner, Felix Sockwell, Amanda Bach, Andrea Dezsö, Bill Grant, William & Irma Lunderman, Darralyn Reith, Christine Mau, Jan Winarsky & Kayla Green, Alexandra Alcantara, Ethan Trask, Josh Liberson, Peter Buchanan-Smith, Jay Gould, Christine & Joe Melchione, Steve Ginsberg, Pamela Parisi, Marianne Klimchuk, and Noreen Morioka & Sean Adams.
Special, heartfelt thanks to my four lifelong best friends, Susan Benjamin, Katharine Umsted, Susan Milligan, and Megan Taylor: Thank you for always being there and for always giving so unconditionally.
To my father, Martin Millman, my stepmom Georganna Millman, and to my brothers, Josh and Jake: You mean everything to me; my life would not be the same without your grace and love.
And to those who helped me create this book: to all of the extraordinary designers featured in these pages, and to Edwin Rivera, Jason Ramirez, Jürgen Miller, Joyce Rutter Kaye, Grant McCracken, Malcolm Gladwell, and Steven Heller (again), I will always be indebted to you.
And to my talented co-conspirators, Rodrigo Corral and Jeremy Lehrer, quite simply: I could not have done this without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.