In September of last year I took a trip with my university course to London to attend the annual AGI conference. As this event is rarely held in this country, out tutors thought it was too good of an opportunity to miss and bought the whole course tickets to go. At first I wasn't overly keen on the idea of going - we had to arrange our own travel and accommodation and it seemed like a lot of hassle trying to contact course mates and organise the event. However, once I got myself there I thoroughly enjoyed the two days and i'm so glad I went! While I was there, one speaker that particularly caught my attention was Stefan Sagmeister.
Stefan was born in Bregenz, Austria on August 6th, 1962. According to Wikipedia (2014), Sagmeister is a graphic designer and typography and has his own design firm in New York City called 'Sagmeister & Walsh Inc.'. Notable work he has completed includes album covers for Lou Reed, OK Go, The Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Aerosmith and Pat Metheny.
Wikipedia (2014) explains that Sagmeister has a long-standing artistic collaborator with musicians David Byrne and Lou Reed. He has spent many years designing for the music industry, but a while back he decided to only dedicate 25% of his time to the music industry, while splitting the other 75% equally between the art world (e.g. books and publications for galleries), the scientific community and social causes.
"Solo shows on Sagmeister, Inc's work have been mounted in Zurich, Vienna, New York, Berlin, Japan, Osaka, Prague, Cologne, and Seoul. He teaches in the graduate department of the School of Visual Arts in New York and has been appointed as the Frank Stanton Chair at the Cooper Union School of Art, New York." - Wikipedia (2014).
Me (far right) and a few other course mates with Stefan Sagmeister! (middle)
Before the conference I have to admit I had never heard of Stefan Sagmeister, but I thoroughly enjoyed every talk he gave during the event. I even managed to get my picture with him! I loved his enthusiasm and stage presence; he made his talks interesting and easy to engage with, as opposed to others that simply stood there and talked for the allotted time.
A project that I particularly took to is 'The Happy Show', that "offered visitors the experience of walking into Stefan Sagmeister's mind as he attempts to increase his happiness via mediation, cognitive therapy, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals." - Sagmeister & Walsh Inc. (2012)
The project seemed really unique, fun and engaging and you can tell it was well thought out to ensure that it was successful.
I'm not sure that Sagmeister's aesthetics were what caught my eye; as talented as he is I don't think that I was drawn to his actual work as his style doesn't match mine. I do, however, believe that I was so fascinated by him because of his design ethos. I'm not saying that he doesn't produce amazing work aesthetically, but I think that I was particularly interested in his views about design and problems in society that can be solved using design and his general attitude about life - it was very refreshing and inspiring to witness several times throughout the duration of the conference!
Please visit his website (www.sagmeisterwalsh.com) and check out some of the work he has created with his long-term collaborator Jessica Walsh.
SAGMEISTER & WALSH INC. (2012). The Happy Show. [online]. Last accessed 8th Jan 2014 at http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/project/the-happy-show/
WIKIPEDIA (2014). Stefan Sagmeister. [online]. Last accessed 8th Jan 2014 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Sagmeister
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