Book List of the Week: Stefan Sagmeister
Books and happiness
By Steve Kroeter February 3, 2014A few days before a live and online signing of his latest book, the updated edition of Things I have learned in my life so far (2013, Abrams), scheduled at his New York studio on February 6, graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister agreed to answer a few questions about the book, its online offshoot, and a little bit about what he’s learned (so far). We also reprise his popular book list for Designers & Books—now updated with some new commentary.
Designers & Books: Things I have learned in my life so far comes from the entries you make in your diary. Aren’t you too busy to write in a diary? How often do you make entries?
Stefan Sagmeister: In the last decade I’ve switched from a handwritten diary to a typed one, and since then my writing has become much more regular. I make a point to write once a week, and—when times are exciting—more often.
D&B: In the part of the book where you talk about “Don’t expect people to change,” which sounds sort of pessimistic, you also say: “I have found that changing myself is possible,” which sounds very optimistic. What is the most important way in which you have changed yourself?
SS: While working on The Happy Film, I underwent cognitive therapy as one of the strategies to increase my well-being. I found this to be a very efficient technique to change myself. It’s like training in the gym: The more often I do it, the better I’ll be at it.
D&B: We like that you expanded the book to a website and that there you invite everyone to share the things they have learned in their lives so far. What are some of the most interesting entries you’ve seen appear on the site?
SS: I thought the sentence “Don’t judge people according to their appearance” was beautifully executed, very touching. I am also very fond of “Honesty can solve any problem.”
D&B: Between the first edition of Things I have learned... and the new edition, your business changed from Sagmeister Inc. to Sagmeister & Walsh. What’s the most important thing you learned as you made the transition from a one-principal firm to a partnership?
SS: It is good to let go.
D&B: Are you still learning? Will there be another updated edition of Things I have learned...?
SS: I will see. If there are worthwhile things to be learned and ways to develop them into proper design projects, then yes. But it could also be interesting to move on toward something completely different.
Cover of Things I have learned in my life so far, Updated Edition by Stefan Sagmeister, 2013 (Abrams) |
In addition to being a thought-provoking (and provocative) graphic designer and writer, Stefan Sagmeister is a committed reader. “I read about 30–40 books a year,” he says in the new introduction to his book list, “When I went on sabbatical I thought I would be reading much more, having all this wonderful time available. But I did not read more at all—apparently one book every one to two weeks is the rhythm that fits my desires best.”
His book list—which includes authors David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, and Brian Eno, among others—was one of the original 50 that Designers & Books debuted with in February 2011 and has continued to be one of our most widely read ever since. Sagmeister adds, “I have started to read books aloud to some of my favorite people, and enjoyed that a lot. It allows for appreciating something together.”
View Stefan Sagmeister’s Book List
Stefan Sagmeister will sign copies of the latest edition of Things I have learned in my life so far in his New York studio and online (you can get a personalized copy even if you can’t be there!) on February 6. As part of the event, which is co-presented by AIGA/NY and Designers & Books, an in-person student-led interview with Sagmeister will be conducted and live-Tweeted.
Anyone purchasing a copy of Stefan Sagmeister’s updated edition of Things I have learned in my life so far in conjunction with the event will receive one of two free temporary tattoos—courtesy of Tattly— based on the Sagmeister maxims: “Don’t Expect People to Change” and “Self-Confidence Produces Fine Results.”
More details.
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.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
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.
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
- 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 . . .
- One Book and Why: Graphic Designer Stefan Sagmeister Recommends . . .
- Book List of the Week: Milton Glaser
- Imagining Information: Symbols, Isotype, and Book Design
- “The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn” To Be Reissued in a New Facsimile Edition
- Do We Need a Completely New Approach to Marketing Books?
- Question Everything: A Conversation with OK-RM’s Rory McGrath