Tibor Kalman famous quotes

03-25-2025

You'll never go wrong when you work with someone smarter than you.
-- Tibor Kalman
When you make something no one hates, no one loves it.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Hate #Design #One Love
I am interested in imperfections, quirkiness, insanity, unpredictability. That's what we really pay attention to anyway. We don't talk about planes flying; we talk about them crashing.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Imperfection #Insanity #Flying
I'm always trying to turn things upside down and see if they look any better.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Trying #Down And #Looks
The difference between good design and great design is INTELLIGENCE
-- Tibor Kalman

#Differences #Design #Great Design
The perfect state of creative bliss is having power (you are 50) and knowing nothing (you are 9). This assures an interesting and successful outcome.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Successful #Knowing #Perfect
I'm not as good a writer as I'd like to be; therefore, I like to use images to tell stories.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Stories #Use
No matter what your cultural sophistication or what language you speak, everyone can understand images.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Matter #Language #Speak
Pictures are so good at giving people information that they're not looking for.
-- Tibor Kalman

#People #Giving #Information
Good designers are no longer satisfied in taking the manuscript from someone and making it look nice. One of the things that I've tried to do is move from being a designer to a content provider.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Nice #Moving #Looks
If someone is going to permit me to make a publication that is politically and culturally progressive and not tell me to put their favorite movie stars on the cover, if I get to do what I want in an honest way - as I did in the beginning at 'Colors' - then I'm going to do it.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Stars #Color #Want
Your children will smash your understanding, knowledge and reality. You will be better off. Then they will leave. You'll miss them forever.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Children #Reality #Forever
I use contrary-ism in every part of my life.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Use #Isms
I like being a 10-year-old kid who's in charge.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Kids #Years
Edits are very important to me - they're the way in which I work on everything.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Important #Way
What is said determines who listens and who understands. Graphic design is a language, but graphic designers are so busy worrying about the nuances - accents, punctuation and so on - that they spend little time thinking about what the words add up to. Iâ€™m interested in using our communication skills to change the way things are.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Communication #Thinking #Skills
Design is just language and the real issue is what you use that language to do.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Real #Issues #Design
If you don't have an idea, all you have is style.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Ideas #Style
Perspective is a moment in time that cannot be fully appreciated until that moment has passed.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Perspective #Appreciated #Moments
Think like an artist. Dress like an insurance salesman.
-- Tibor Kalman

#Thinking #Artist #Dresses

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