Getting Inspired — Irma Boom and Debbie Millman: AIGA/NY @ Parsons
Image: Irma Boom and Debbie Millman at the AIGA/NY @ Parsons Lecture Series
On January 29th, Level folks made their way to Parsons School of Design for a rare treat: a conversation between two design luminaries, Irma Boom and Debbie Millman.
Boom, based in Amsterdam, is celebrated internationally as a master of the book form. Her projects have redefined what a book can be — as an object, as a structure, and as an experience. Since founding Irma Boom Office in 1991, she’s worked with institutions and clients around the world. In 1991, she became the youngest recipient of the Gutenberg Prize for her complete body of work. The Museum of Modern Art has acquired her work for its permanent collection, and the University of Amsterdam maintains the Irma Boom Archive.
Millman — designer, brand strategist, writer, and host of the pioneering Design Matters podcast. She is President Emeritus of AIGA, co‑founded the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts.
XXL and mini versions of Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book, 2013, c/o Lecturis
The evening was billed as a discussion of Irma Boom: The Architecture of the Book, Boom’s 704‑page miniature compendium of more than 300 projects. But in Millman’s hands, the conversation quickly became more than a book talk — it was an intimate exploration of a designer’s life, process, and philosophy. Boom spoke of each project as if it were its own living entity, with its own voice and logic.
Making books is my work and my life… Telling one story per book was my way to reveal things about the project you would not get from an ordinary caption.
— Irma Boom, AIGA/NY @ Parsons
She described how every commission begins with deep immersion — research, conversation, and exploration of the subject matter. Whether designing for a national museum, a global brand, or an independent cultural foundation, she searches for the singular idea that will define the book’s structure and tone, and knows how to shape that into a simple but deeply meaningful visual concept. This approach, she explained, is based on her belief that a book should not only document its subject, but embody it. Materials, scale, pacing, and even the way a reader turns the page become part of the storytelling. Many of her most memorable works challenge conventions — oversize formats that command a table, miniature volumes that fit in the palm of your hand, unconventional bindings that alter the rhythm of reading.
Millman’s drew out these moments of vulnerability, revealing that Boom’s fearlessness lies in her willingness to step into unfamiliar territory — the space where her creativity thrives.
You don’t start out a project to create a failure or success. If you experiment, research, and walk paths others don’t dare to take, the result can be good or bad. But what is good and what is bad? You cannot anticipate these things.
— Irma Boom, AIGA/NY @ Parsons
After the conversation, Boom signed copies of The Architecture of the Book, and chatted with attendees. Since Principal Jennifer Bernstein had Boom as an instructor in graduate school, it was also a little reunion for her and other grad school colleagues who also attended.