"Trying to look good limits my life"
My first introduction to Stefan Sagmeister was a video in which he was giving a conference talk. The topic was “The power of time off” and I found it very interesting. It still can be watched from here.After a brief search about Sagmeister, I found out that I should have known about him long before.
His works include music album covers, magazine covers, poster designs and packaging designs.
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This is a personal work from him, and i think one of his best. The quote itself is quite powerful but the way he used real objects, photography and typography makes it all the more striking. The piece was broken down into 5 parts: "Trying-to look-good-limits-my life" and displayed in sequence as typographic billboards in Paris.
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He has produced several works for musicians and this is a poster design for Lou Reed's new album. Again, the use of typography with photography underlines his style and also gives the feeling of poetry. Photographing Lou Reed with his own lyrics written on his face underlines the musicians personal attachment to his work. For an artist such as Lou Reed, music is not just notes or rhythm but also lyrics and poetry. Stefan Sagmeister not just creates a beautiful design but also a very powerful imagery that is in direct relations with the musician's work itself.
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This is one his most controversial works. It is a lecture poster in which Sagmeister used his body as the main medium and made one of his interns literally "carve" all the typography on his (Stefan Sagmeister's) body with an incisive instrument. I think the idea and the presentation is outstanding. He states the aim was to visualise the pain that most of the designers have to go through while working on a project. I think the idea is very clear and the final work is unique and brave.
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An album cover design for H. P. Zinker's Mountains of Madness album. The technique used for design and packaging is in direct harmony with the album's idea. There is a red transparent case covers pack and when the cover is removed the facial expression changes from silent indifference to absolute dread. The contrast is rather dramatic.
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The final example is an Adobe Design Achievement Awards poster work. Since the competition is among students, the idea for the poster comes from the "caffeine overload" that most design students go through during long hours of working on a hard project. 2500 filled coffee cups were photographed in a studio for this image. What stands out in this work is that it is not only a good design or an original idea, but the harmony of both idea, design, motivation and effort. The work itself could easily have been produced in a digital medium but the use of real objects in such a clever way speaks volumes both about the originality of the image and the respect and passion that Sagmeister has for his work.
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