Stefan Sagmeister Quotes & Sayings

“I can see my work as a job. I do it for money. I likely already look forward to the weekend on Thursdays. And I probably will need a hobby as a leveling mechanism. In a career, I'm definitely more engaged. But at the same time, there will be periods when I think, 'Is all that really hard work really worth my while?'”

“Any excuse to get away from the computer screen is welcome.”

“I am not a religious person myself, but I did look for nature. I had spent my first sabbatical in New York City. Looked for something different for the second one. Europe and the U.S. didn't really feel enticing because I knew them too well. So Asia it was. The most beautiful landscapes I had seen in Asia were Sri Lanka and Bali.”

“To be stupid and selfish and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness. Though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless.”

“The question I wanted to answer was, could I train my mind to be happy the same way one trains one's body?”

“If you want to communicate something, you'd better make sure that your design piece is well-dressed and that its teeth are fixed. At the same time, I still believe that if it is only stylistically great and it has nothing to say, it still is not going to make a lasting impression on anybody.”

“I didn't think that personal style had much value in graphic design.”

“In running, I know that I can train as much as I want and I'm never going to break the world record for the five miles. It's partly genetics; I'm just not built for it. But if I worked really hard, I might be able to cut my time by half. Could I do the same thing with my mind and my well-being?”

“I originally had opened the studio in New York to combine my two loves, music and design. And we created videos and packaging for many musicians that you know, and for even more that you've never heard of. As I realized, just like with many, many things in my life that I actually love, I adapt to it. And I get, over time, bored by them.”

“Some people said, 'Oh you're going to become a fine artist now and do exhibits and stuff.' But I have no desire to do that. I really like design and I'm going to stay with it.”