things i have learned in my life so far by stefan sagmeister

Or, instead of learning a new language, I can refine the one that I do know how to speak – graphic design – and, much more importantly, figure out if I actually have something to say. So, of course, I can go and learn another language, like film or music … and after some significant training I’ll be able to speak them in a way other people understand … Stefan Sagmeister, Diary entry from June 30, 2000: It was a designer’s dream! Basically they were saying to him “Here’s the money, here’s the placement, do whatever you want.” After seeing the work he produced in his ‘year off’, clients were inspired themselves to give him free artistic reign to create something for them.

He created experimental works entirely outside the comfort zone of the role he was used to as ‘Professional Graphic Designer’ and strayed from the well defined constrains of ‘Design’ into what most considered ‘Art’. “Thing I Have Learned In My Life So Far” showcases the projects that Sagmeister’s studio was commissioned to create (by paying clients) after he took a year to work independently of clients and the constraints of The Brief. “After running a design studio in New York for seven years, I decided in 2000 to conduct an experimental year, a year in which I would design no projects for clients but investigate how the work would change with no outside briefs or deadlines attached.” I felt that Stefan Sagmeister might provide some insight into this tricky inquiry, as he is the first contemporary graphic designer who springs to mind when imaging someone who continues to cross those boundaries. What makes design distinct from art? Where do you draw the line? What makes this piece of work art, and this piece of work design? And why? These questions have been playing on my mind for the last 17 years. Because the ‘book’ is divided into 15 booklets in side a slipcase, none with any page numbers or titles, I have been unable to provide page numbers for citations.) (All quotations in this post have been drawn from “Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far” – Stefan Sagmeister, 2008, Abrams.

Things i have learned in my life so far by stefan sagmeister