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The Happy Man: A profile of Stefan Sagmeister Words — Anne Miltenberg
“Do you know who I am?” Stefan Sagmeister asked, when I was introduced to him at a design party six years ago. “Yes, you’re Paul’s friend,” I replied, referring to a common acquaintance. This is the equivalent of calling Mandela ‘Winnie’s ex-husband’, or Madonna ‘the sister of Christopher Ciccone’. Perhaps I wanted to make a personal connection; perhaps I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his fame. Even at a party with dozens of famous international designers, all eyes were on Sagmeister. The party was in Rotterdam, in a room the size of a small basketball stadium with wooden floors, high ceilings and rows of tables positioned on giant bleachers so everyone could enjoy the harbour view outside. It was getting dark, the alcohol was flowing freely, and the last remains of formality melted away. Pierre Bernard stood at the buffet, spotted Irma Boom and cooed, “Allooooo.” Gert Dumbar grabbed a glowing, six-armed candelabra and walked across the tabletops to shake hands. Rik Comello stood up on a chair and recited an improv poem at the top of his lungs. Here, Sagmeister was one of the less conspicuous partygoers. He sat at a table, high up and away from the crowded floor, engaged in quiet conversation with three women. If you had looked casually, you would have thought no one was noticing him. But around his table hung a palpable tension. Everyone within hearing distance was silent in an attempt to eavesdrop on his conversation. Their backs were towards him, but their chairs were ever so slightly turned in his direction. At the nearest wall, a surprisingly large group of young people, for no apparent reason, gathered on the stairs. Though they were casually sipping their beers and talking among themselves, their eyes were transfixed on Sagmeister. It is difficult not to be starstruck by Stefan Sagmeister. He’s designed album covers for Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones and Talking Heads, the latter winning him
a Grammy (he won another for designing the David Byrne/Brian Eno album Everything that Happens Will Happen Today). His work has been featured in just about every design magazine in the world, in addition to two monographs that became best sellers, a series of solo exhibitions in major museums and a list of lecture requests that could easily keep him on the road for years. He has been a speaker at TED four times. If he designs a book, the publisher will place the line ‘cover: designed by Stefan Sagmeister’ close to, and only slightly smaller than, the author’s name, in a bid to increase sales. His self-commissioned work has propelled his name even further, for its visual expression and its selfexhibitionism. He famously carved the announcement of a lecture into his body with a razor blade, published as a poster. He has documented the effects of a weeklong fast food binge upon himself. On his website, you can watch his every move in the studio, recorded by a webcam 24 hours a day. He published his life lessons in a series of small books, held together in a box, with a laser cut of his own face. Every single graphic designer of the past two decades would recognise Stefan Sagmeister’s distinctive voice and unique work from miles away. That night, at the party in Rotterdam, Sagmeister considered my answer in silence. I was standing on a lower level step, and my head barely poked up above his table. The women in his company looked at me with barely concealed hostility. I tried to ignore them, and locked my eyes on Sagmeister. Behind me, I could sense chairs turning towards us. After what felt like a long time, Sagmeister replied thoughtfully, with a soft voice, “Yes, I am Paul’s friend.” The warmth in his reply caught me off-guard. I immediately understood that he had taken the time to consider his relationship with Paul, and that, yes, it could be described as a real friendship. We exchanged a conspiratory smile and, dumbfounded, I moved on to my own table. The icon, the idol, was a real man with feelings and a happy politeness. As soon as I sat down, people crowded around me to ask what it was we talked about. Visiting him in New York six years later, Sagmeister is very likely on the verge of surpassing his niche superstardom in the design world and establishing himself as a household name. The release of his first feature length
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