Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off

Pursuing Little Experiments

In this section, the speaker talks about his design studio in New York and how he closes it for one year every seven years to pursue little experiments that are difficult to accomplish during the regular working year.

Combining Music and Design

• The speaker opened his design studio in New York to combine his two loves, music and design.

• They created videos and packaging for many musicians that people know, as well as for more obscure ones.

• However, over time, the work started to look the same.

Closing Down for One Year

• The speaker decided to close down his studio for one year because he realized that he was getting bored with his work.

• During this year, they are not available for any clients.

• This is a lovely and energetic time.

Interspersing Retirement Years

• The speaker wanted to cut off five retirement years and intersperse them between working years.

• He believes that this is enjoyable for himself but also important because the work that comes out of these years flows back into the company and society at large.

Three Different Levels of Work

In this section, the speaker talks about three different levels of work defined by Jonathan Haidt: job, career, and calling.

Job Level

• At the job level, people do their work just for money.

• They likely already look forward to weekends on Thursdays.

• They probably need a hobby as a leveling mechanism.

Career Level

• At the career level, people are more engaged in their work.

• However, there will be periods when they question whether all their hard work is worth it.

Calling Level

• At the calling level, people would likely do their work even if they weren't financially compensated for it.

Choosing Bali for Sabbatical

In this section, the speaker talks about choosing Bali for his sabbatical and the inspiration he found there.

Looking for Something Different

• The speaker spent his first sabbatical in New York City.

• He wanted something different for his second one.

• Europe and the U.S. didn't feel enticing because he knew them too well.

Choosing Bali

• The most beautiful landscapes the speaker had seen in Asia were Sri Lanka and Bali.

• However, Sri Lanka still had a civil war going on, so he chose Bali instead.

Inspiration from Bali

• There is wonderful inspiration coming from the area itself.

• It's a wonderful, very craft-oriented society.

Furniture Design in Bali

In this section, the speaker talks about designing furniture during his sabbatical in Bali.

Renovating Studio

• Just before leaving New York, the speaker decided to renovate his studio.

• He looked for furniture but couldn't find anything he liked that was also affordable.

Pursuing Furniture Design in Bali

• One of the things they pursued in Bali was pieces of furniture.

• They created a series of 99 portraits on t-shirts featuring every single dog that surrounded his house as a little retaliation with a slightly menacing message on the back of each shirt.

Unique Pieces of Furniture

• The speaker designed unique pieces of furniture such as a lamp that works with wild dogs and a coffee table called "Be Here Now" which includes 330 compasses.

The Importance of Sabbaticals

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of sabbaticals and how they can lead to success.

Sabbatical Success Stories

• 3M gives their engineers 15% of their time to pursue personal projects. Scotch tape and sticky notes were developed during this time.

• Only 5% of people in the audience have conducted a sabbatical. The speaker recommends talking to those who have done it successfully for advice.

• To ensure he followed through with his sabbatical, the speaker told as many people as possible about his plans.

Planning a Sabbatical

• Without a plan, the speaker's first sabbatical was disastrous. He became his own intern and reacted to little requests instead of pursuing meaningful work.

• For his next sabbatical, the speaker made a list of things he was interested in, put them in a hierarchy, divided them into chunks of time, and made a plan similar to one used in grade school.

Benefits of Sabbaticals

• Financially, taking a sabbatical was successful for the speaker because it led to improved quality and higher prices.

• Many projects that came out of the seven years following the first sabbatical were inspired by that single year.

Designing an Identity for Casa da Musica

In this section, the speaker discusses designing an identity for Casa da Musica music center in Portugal.

Sameness is Overrated

• The idea that everything needs to be exactly the same works for very few companies.

• The speaker was asked to design an identity for Casa da Musica, but failed at creating one that didn't use the architecture.

• After understanding that the building itself was a logo, the speaker put a mask on it and colored it in a particular way using software.

Casa da Musica Logo Generator

• The Casa da Musica Logo Generator is connected to a scanner and can create logos for performers like Beethoven, Zappa, Philip Glass, Lou Reed, and the Chemical Brothers.

The Power of Design

Stefan Sagmeister shares his insights on the power of design beyond promotional purposes. He showcases some of his works that convey messages and provoke thoughts.

Using Design for More Than Promotion

• Stefan Sagmeister talks about how he used to use design only for promotional purposes.

• He realized that he spent so much time learning the language of design, but he only used it for promotion. This led him to explore other ways to use design.

• Sagmeister shows a wall of bananas at different ripenesses with the message "Self-confidence produces fine results." The bananas were displayed in a gallery in New York and left there for five weeks.

• With the help of 100 volunteers, they created a floral typography using 250,000 coins from the central bank in Amsterdam. The typography spelled out "Obsessions make my life worse and my work better."

• After eight hours, most of the coins were gone because someone took them all. When the police came to protect the artwork, they swept up all the coins and put them into custody at police headquarters.

Other Works by Sagmeister

• Sagmeister is working on a movie about happiness in Bali where nearby pigs, geese, and monkeys helped create titles for it.

• He believes that doing a film on happiness might not be worthwhile but encourages people to watch a video clip of an old man who is happy just being alive.

Conclusion

Stefan Sagmeister's talk highlights how design can be used beyond promotional purposes. His works showcase how design can convey messages and provoke thoughts while also being visually appealing.