STEFAN SAGMEISTER
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION • Born on August 6, 1962 in Austria • Started working for Alphorn Magazine, an Austrian youth magazine, at age 15 • Studied graphic design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna • Later studied graphic design at the Pratt Institute in New York on a Fulbright scholarship
PROFESSIONAL CAREER • Began working for Hong Kong Design Group in 1991 • Returned to New York in 1993 to work with M&Co design company • Formed his own company, Sagmeister Inc., in 1993 • Currently co-owns and operates Sagmeister & Walsh
NOTABLE CLIENTS • The Rolling Stones • HBO • Time Warner • The Guggenheim Museum
PHILOSOPHY Why happiness? Stefan: Even though I normally don’t particularly enjoy quoting other people, I’ll answer this question with a quote anyway, this is from the 17th century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal: “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. This is the motive of every action of every man, even those who hang themselves.” That’s why.
You have spent ten years exploring the concept of happiness, what inspired you to start the project? Stefan: I had given a presentation on Design and Happiness for a quite long while at design conferences. I had found thinking about the topic helpful for my own practice as it forced me to consider the fundamentals and the feedback from the audience was always enthusiastic. Ultimately, most things I do in life have an increased well-being in mind, but I often take all sorts of detours to get there. I was interested to see if it is possible to take the direct route.
Have you discovered new ways to make yourself happy? Stefan: Nothing new, just confirmation of the old: Falling in love makes me happiest.
DESIGN MOTTO “Design that needed guts from the creator and still carries the ghost of these guts in the final execution.”
• Stefan isn’t afraid to create what he wants to create • One of his most controversial works was his moving announcement with Jessica Walsh • Stefan and Jessica are shown completely naked, covered in cockroaches
“We were living among cockroaches and mice for several years at our old studio. When our ceiling fell through from toilet water, we felt it was time to move on.�
INSPIRATION What do you feel is the biggest block to your creativity? Stefan: Boredom, uninteresting content and fear of not being able to come up with anything.
Step-by-step, please describe any method of coming up with ideas you find useful. Stefan: Here is the method from James Webb Young: 1. Think about a project from any possible point of view. From yours, from your moms, from the clients, from a color, from a form etc.etc. point of view. 2. Write every thought down on its own index card. Fill as many cards as possible. 3. Gather them all on a big table. Try to find relationships between the different thoughts. 4. Forget about it.