Understanding Sagmeister

What the hell is so hot about Stefan Sagmeister, besides the fact that his name is awesome? I’ve been struggling with this post for a while now. I’ve been trying to make sense of the enormous Sagmeister following that permeates through my design peers. I’ve seen his work, you can too if you click here, but there has always been an internal quandary as to why Stefan has achieved such stardom. I greatly respect the work that he does. I can see the passion that he has for his work and his concepts really do”Made you Look.” So perhaps the following article found in Communication Arts will be as awakening to you as it was to me. Design is changing. It’s a hard concept to grasp and I don’t think I’ve even gotten past the crust of the matter but at least now I have a few more questions to ask.

Design=Heart? Stefan Sagmeister asks design students: Can design touch someone’s heart?
Carolyn McCarron Sienicki

Originally published in Communication Arts November Design Annual 2006 prodID=”ISS200611″;document.write(inStockStr());

I’ve always considered Stefan Sagmeister a professional provocateur. I still remember, as a young designer fresh out of school over ten years ago, receiving posters in the mail that he designed for the AIGA: the headless chickens, the wagging cow tongues, and the X-Actoed typography (into his own flesh, no less). I thought, who is this guy?

Now I know: He’s Stefan Sagmeister, a superhero to many in the design world (even though he prefers not to be seen this way). He can convince clients to take creative risks that leave the rest of us awestruck. He employs guts in his work and gets endless publicity for his most shocking and provocative designs. Young designers everywhere revere him. continue reading here

On a more personal note. The phrase “you just don’t “get” it,” is lazy. When it comes to graphic design it is the designers purpose to communicate. Simple negation, the lack of discussion, clarification and debate is a good clue that you aren’t speaking to a very good designer. Not questioning why something of someone is great, even Stefan Sagmeister, is a dangerous game. Design to me is all about interpretation. To some, things just make sense, to others it takes time, but to some the interpretation isn’t as important as the reputation. The one thing this article really made me think is that I think Stefan would want his reputation questioned. A great designer wants to earn their greatness. A great designer strives to have work so strong that it speaks for itself. If you take someone on the face value of their reputation, then you are ignoring the reasons why they are great. Perhaps Stefan is one of the greatest designers of all time, but until I know why I’m gonna keep asking.