Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far, Sagmeister

Watch and see 15 of the possible cover designs to Stefan’s new book appear before your eyes.

So Sagmeister has done it again. Although we have already seen many different pieces that are in this book, it is great to see and read about the entire project. It is fascinating to have all the work in one place, see the process it took to make these creations and discover the meaning behind it all. What has always struck me about Stefan’s work is the complete originality behind it and the guts that it takes to produce work like his own. We can make all the naked Sagmeister jokes we want (but please stop, it is very old) but he really has put himself out there and it isn’t based on arrogance.

While it would be amazing to have encountered some of this work in its original setting, I assume that the majority of this work was mainly designed for the end photograph and publication. If he created this work to be mainly viewed in these public spaces then his work would teeter over the design/art line very heavily into art. This work is interesting in that it is so much about self expression, but Stefan also has a message to say, and clients are willing to pay him to make the work.

If you look at what The Meister is doing in this book it is easy to complain and say that he is a lucky man, but if you have followed his career and read his book Made You Look, you realize that he is a genius and deserves all the creative freedom that is given to him. While I find the career of his mentor/hero, the late Tibor Kalman, amazing, I can’t help but to be more and more impressed with Stefan over the years. If Stefan hasn’t surpassed his mentor, then he will soon enough.

What impacts me even more than the work, is the message behind the work. We (consumer minded designers) tend to lose site of what really matters in life. You would think that we would be immune to the very advertising and brand desire that we create, but I find that we are more susceptible than almost any other group out there. On occasion we will even buy a product because it is pretty or has good packaging, even though we never plan to use it. So many of the messages in Stefan’s work are great reminders, and it takes somebody rendering these ideas in such painstaking ways, to make us take a second look at our priorities in life.
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To experience more visit thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com.

A big thank you to Eric Nyffeler and Esau for the very appropriate and wonderful music in the YouTube movie.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 8:54 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.