Becoming Stefan Sagmeister
The award-winning graphic designer updates his monograph, Things I have learned in my life so far
By Anne Quito, Superscript October 17, 2013
Stefan Sagmeister is staring at you. The clever cover of his now-updated monograph, Things I have learned in my life so far (Abrams), features a full frontal portrait of Sagmeister, with a system of die cuts and patterns alluding to the shifting faces and phases of the inventive graphic designer. The autobiographical volume comprises of 18 individual signatures each featuring a maxim from Sagmeister’s diary artfully rendered in various graphic bricolage—bananas, leaves, coins, neon lights, and urine. With a rock-star level cult following, Sagmeister’s award-winning design work has been the subject of numerous international exhibitions but he may be best known for the various acts of corporeal sacrifice in the name of graphic design. Never formulaic or predictable, his work straddles multiple dichotomies—private vs. personal; simple vs. complex; design vs. art. Sagmeister corresponded with Anne Quito on the making of the book.
Anne Quito: How do you begin conceiving the visual treatment for each maxim?
Stefan Sagmeister: In many of our typographic pieces, the message itself is very clear and straightforward while the typography itself remains more ambiguous and open for interpretation. I found that by utilizing an open typographic approach combined with the clear message, many viewers have an easier time relating it to their own experiences. We employ various typographic strategies from one project to another. Some are influenced by the environment they take place in, some by an outside element, some by personal experiences.
 |
|
The cover of Stefan Sagmeister's Things I have learned in my life so far, Updated Edition(Abrams).
|
AQ: You quote the artist Donald Judd: "Design has to work. Art does not." Do you think that your notoriety as a designer has afforded you the status of an artist?
SS: I have always seen myself as a designer. Nevertheless, we are very happily involved in the design world as well as the art world professionally, just as I am involved in both worlds as a human being. If I go to the Museum of Modern Art, and right after to a supermarket, it's still me—Stefan—who interacts with either. Our self-generated work, which tends to be more culturally oriented, often influences our commercial work, and vice versa. From a purely pragmatic point of view, we have found the art world harsher and less fair than the design world.
AQ: This book is an update to the 2008 edition. Do you intend to keep updating the “Things I have learned in my life so far” series?
SS: For as long as it makes sense and we do feel we have something worthwhile to say, yes.
AQ: What have you learned today that was worth noting in your diary?
SS: Noticing the exact way water droplets hit my skin under the shower in the morning is much more enjoyable than letting my mind wander any which way.
Updated, January 31, 2014:
To celebrate the publication of the updated edition of Things I have learned in my life so far (Abrams), Stefan Sagmeister will host a book signing and interview at his New York studio and online on Thursday, February 6, 2014, 6:30–8:00 PM. Purchase a book to be signed. Can’t be in New York? Tell us what name you want him to sign and we will tweet you a photo. Follow #sagmeisterbook
An enhanced eBook with image galleries, videos, and 3-D diagrams is available exclusively on iBookStore.
You Might Also Like
Announcements
Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
.png)
Love Letter to a Garden by Debbie Millman
Love Letter to a Garden
By Debbie Millman
Contributions by Roxane Gay
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: April 15, 2025
From the award-winning artist, designer, and the host of the podcast Design Matters, Debbie Millman, this book tells the visual story of falling in love with gardening—and the philosophies that work conjures. Spread throughout are simple recipes using the garden’s ingredients from Millman’s wife, best-selling author Roxane Gay.
Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
.png)
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
Popular NowWeekMonth
- Archigram: The Magazine
- The Book We Need Now: New from Stefan Sagmeister
- Quote of the Day: Witold Rybczynski & Paradise Planned
- Summer Reading for Design Lovers: The Story of Architecture
- One Book and Why: Design School Dean Frederick Steiner Recommends . . .
Recent Articles
