I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Artist Series videos. Being able to tap into the mind of various designers and artists was really inspirational and fascinating. Observing the collaboration between an author, illustrator and designer was so interesting. The care they took not to distract the reader with design, but to use it to enhance the writing was truly interesting. I hadn’t thought about design and writing paired together in quite that way before. And seeing Mark Romanek’s creative process, and how he intricately goes over every detail of the scene, was remarkable. I am amazed that he doesn’t give himself too much direction with the final product, but still produces amazing results. All of this was very intriguing, but there was one designer who stood out to me among the others.
Stefan Sagmeister really changed my view of graphic design. When I think about graphic design, I think about it in a more commercial sense, where there is a contract involved and a set direction. Art to me has always been more of a personal form of expression, without the pressure of a particular project for a particular outcome. Sagmeister blurred the lines between artist and designer. The fact that he did a such a personal collection is a bit outside the lines with what I think of as design. Not only is the concept inspirational, but the meaning behind the pieces of his collection hit home with me.
“Self confidence produces fine results.”
“Worrying solves nothing.”
“Money does not make me happy.”
“Trying to look good limits my life.”
“Helping other people helps me.”
“Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.”
These are only a few examples of his lessons that will stick with me. I was blown away by the fact that he was able to articulate such deep life lessons in such a concise, truthful and beautiful way. Seeing how his design affected people deeply underlined my awe of his work. Hearing how “worrying solves nothing” related so personally to Milton Glaser was amazing. And Debbie Milman summed up my revelation from learning about Sagmeister when she said, “as a professional body of work, it goes a long way in letting the world know that graphic designers are indeed artists.” Stefan Sagmeister’s work really is a wonderful contribution to the design world in this way.