Happy Birthday, Steven Heller

Happy 39th!!!

VR/

Happy Birthday Stev(en)!
Design 101

Happy Birthday Steven! I hope it's the best ever.

Thanks for all you've done to advance the intellect of our profession. My bookshelves are full of you.

Happy birthday, Steve!

Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Happy Birthday!

In 1946 there was a little movie that came out titled "It's A Wonderful Life," in which an angel shows a suicidal protagonist, (the character played by James Stewart) what the world would be like if he was never born. Turns out, that world is a dreary and drab place. The angel thus saves his life.

Drab and dreary is what the world would be like without Steve Heller. Aside from his extraordinary output (101 books! Hundreds of forewords, introductions, articles, blog posts, and so on!), Jessica has accurately zeroed in on what makes Steve a true national treasure: his pure generosity of spirit. He has selflessly and quietly helped and influenced so many, many designers, illustrators and writers. In fact, if it weren't for Steve, I would not have the life that I have. But I owe him more than my gratitude; I owe him for so many introductions and opportunities I would never, ever have had without his help.

Thank you, Steve, for all you have done for me, for the design community, for the School of Visual Arts, for the New York Times, for AIGA, for Print Magazine and so on! My life would be drab and dreary without you. A most Happy, Happy Birthday to you. You deserve all the joy in the world.

the blind leading the blind

Happy birthday Steve! You are a gentleman, scholar, and have made all our lives richer.

Several years ago, mutual colleagues at AIGA let me know that I'd be meeting Steven Heller for the first time. While they did a wonderful job of preparing me, then introducing us, nothing could have prepared me for the conversation we had that sunny afternoon, leading to a friendship and mentorship that has truly changed my life, but more importantly, the lives of others in turn, as that conversation spawned unseen and un-numbered projects, ideas, collections, introductions, internships, more mentorships, and now a masters program — the likes of which I couldn't have considered early that Monday afternoon.

Steve, for the generosity you offer with every conversation, with every email, with every essay, with every book, with every moment of your time, I thank you. Thank you for seeing connections among people, ideas, objects, eras, antagonists, heros, and underdogs, unlike no one can. Thank you for crafting them into stories so that we can all see them as well. Most of all, the happiest of birthdays to you!

This is lovely.

I love the offered themes in the letter at the top of this piece: The End of the Book, The Preservation of Design, Eccentricity! These remind me that you never know what you're going to run into with Steve; how you will be inspired; what he'll cross your path with. On the days I teach in the Designer As Author Program at SVA, Steve's office is adjacent to my classroom, so one of the treats of the trip is to stop by and see what he's got cooking, some new opportunity, some rich provocation. I treasure the time I get to spend with Steve Heller, and am truly grateful for his friendship. Happy birthday Steve!

I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of books you have written. what a great service to the design community. Happy Birthday.

My name also goes on the long list of those whose early design writing careers were boosted by Steve Heller. I'm looking forward to the book (or PhD thesis) someone does, reviewing his body of work and his influence. Steve is the hardest working man in design business.

It all began with my writing a very cranky letter of complaint about the blatant sexism at the AIGA National Conference in Miami in the early 90s. Steve Heller encourage me to write another small piece for the AIGA Journal. His expert editing helped me learn to write better.
Thank you Steve, and a belated Happy Birthday!

And happy birthday, Steve, from Australia too.

Perhaps you are not aware of the impact of your books around the world.

Certainly, they were among the first graphic design titles to hit Australian bookstores - and soon encouraged a new category - 'Design' - instead of being mixed up with Michelangelo, Rubens and Indigenous art.

So I'd like to thank you for your seemingly inexhaustible range of interests - and the quality of your collaborations and publications. My bookshelves contain many of these books and they are treasured.

Incidentally, 'Trylon and Perisphere' was one of my favorites but was lost in a flood, so I'm delighted to find that it's still available!

(And thanks, too, to Jessica for giving people an opportunity to acknowledge Steven like this!)

All best wishes (again, belatedly) and thank you.