Things I have learned in my life so far | Stefan Sagmeister

Things I have learned in my life so far | Stefan Sagmeister | self help books usually turn me off

books:

Things I have lear...

	Things I have learned in my life so far Stefan Sagmeister Abrams, 2008 - 248 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This book began as a list designer Stefan Sagmeister made in his diary under the title Things I have learned in my life so far, which includes statements such as "Worrying solves nothing" and "Trying to look good limits my life." The list reveals something that is profoundly true: Although human beings have been pursuing happiness for countless generations, it is not so easily achieved. And we need constant reminders to keep us on the right path.

With the support of his clients, Sagmeister transformed these sentences into typographic works, from billboards in France to sign-toting inflatable monkeys on the streets of Scotland. Accompanied by essays from design historian Steven Heller, Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector, and UK psychologist Daniel Nettle, as well as Sagmeister's own words, the series is revealed as a complex blend of personal revelation, art, and design--an eclectic mix of visual audacity and sound advice.

This book consists of 15 unbound signatures in a laser-cut slipcase. Shuffling the sequence of the signatures will produce 15 different covers.

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praise

Sagmeister is by far my favorite designer, and this book is a really beautiful example of his work.

self help books usually turn me off

There is one section of bookstores that I traditionally avoid when browsing:
the self-help section. It's not that the ideas of how to live a fuller life are not
worthy of my attention, but the way these book are written usually wears me
down by their linear nature and repetition of thought. And they often seem
disingenuous. Sagmeister's book is the opposite. It is an alternative
self-help book designed for those of us that like to think about our values
but suffer from short attention spans and require visual stimulation and
maybe some shock value to get us motivated.

There is a lot of work here. A lot of ideas and images. It is a bold compilation of twenty thoughts presented in provocative visual pamphlets. Like his graphic work, the book breaks boundaries and is a bit rebellious, but not in a self-conscious manner. You actually get the feeling that Sagmeister takes his personal development as seriously as his ideas on
design and that he believes that design can make a difference. It's very optimistic. It makes you want to want art or change the world or change yourself or rethink the very form of a book. Maybe the fact that it is broken up into bite size chunks with dramatic and hilarious and curious photographs of real world examples makes us see that it is possible. Or maybe the fact that this compilation is a work in progress rather than a final thesis makes it accessible.

"Everybody who is honest is interesting" is an appropriate aphorism taken from the text. You get the sense that Sagmeister is being honest in this work. And in our world of marketing jive this is refreshing. I'm guessing that one other thing that Sagmeister has learned in his life is that most gifted designers are not gifted writers and that most need good editors. The book is especially well written and concise. My only criticism is that the pamphlets don't go back into the sleeve so easily, but I have learned to live with that.

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Must see

The long awaited follow up to Sagmeister's 'Made you Look' has been well worth the wait.
A book, so different to any design piece available. Full of beautiful imagery, humor and some heartfelt reflection.

A great insight into the working's of an amazing studio.

Congratulations for this extraordinary publication.
Your energy and commitment to life is so great.
So unexpected.
So many highlights.

Is there more?

I had a hard time liking this title because it seemed like it could have been more. Perhaps if I made it to his gallery show I could have felt that I connected to its vision. It is beautifully designed, all there with the big named photographers, artists, illustrators, etc. But I was left wishing that there was more that I could have gotten. It felt like a sidekick companion than the entree.

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Great designs and interesting format

This isn't a book, but a series of mini books in a cool package.

Design - dozen or so mini books, the outside is cut to show the textures on the cover of each through the holes. Each one of the covers are really cool an visually interesting.

Books - The mini books each have a typographical experiment in them and usually a page or two, explaining the sentence his experiments make (sometimes more).

This is not a how to, a our company had this project, or philosophy of book (books?). It is what he did while he took a year off, and did whatever he wanted basically.

Cool for sure, I enjoyed it a lot.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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