How do you stay creatively stimulated and excited about your work?

By far, my most successful strategy to make sure my work remains a calling are my sabbaticals. I conduct one every seven years and during those years, I make lists of things that I’m interested in. When the sabbatical approaches, I look at that list, weigh the items by importance, and divide them into hourly sessions into a weekly plan. Important things get up to five weekly hours, lesser ones one hour. This has worked very well and three to four months into the sabbatical, I have so many projects humming that I can forget about the plan.

You’ve had the chance to collaborate with some incredible pop culture icons on designs for things like album covers and book jackets, which then take on their own legacy with fans. Is there one really memorable project that is particularly dear to you?

We started the studio with the distinct purpose of creating designs for music in order to combine my two main interests at the time: design and music. After seven years, we moved on toward other interesting areas. And yes, I am still very fond of that time. I loved working with David Byrne and Lou Reed. We stopped designing album covers after the first sabbatical in 2000—there were just too many other interesting things to design and music stopped playing the same role in my life as I approached 40. A Byrne/Brian Eno project was an exception as the music was terrific, David being wonderful to work with and having been massively influenced by Brian's published diary. I had a strong urge to meet him.

You’ve worked with Lou Reed on multiple projects. Why do you think you complemented each other so well?

Lou came by the studio one day unannounced. The doorman rang through the intercom that he had Lou Reed waiting down there. I was convinced it was my friend, Tom, joking. When Lou actually walked into the studio on the 15th floor, he pronounced: “You live in a great building with wonderful doormen displaying great musical taste.” It turned out that the doorman was listening to Lou on his Walkman (yes!) as he walked in. We got off to a good start and worked wonderfully together until the end. He always treated me extra well, even did interviews for me, and presented me with the National Design Award at the Cooper Hewitt Museum. I was a fan and am still a fan.

As you’ve mentioned, your sabbaticals play a crucial role in your life and work, so much so that you’re known for them. Do you have one coming up and, if so, what do you have planned for it?

Yes, right after this exhibition! Starting on October 1st, I’ll spend four months in Madrid, then four months in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the last four months in Buenos Aires—all Spanish-speaking places.

Your body of work is so diverse—film, fashion, furniture, branding. Is there anything you’d still like to try?

I’d love to design an electric car, but it would be so very, very difficult.

The Masters Series: Stefan Sagmeister will be on view at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 W 26th St., 15th floor, Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00am to 6:00pm, and Mondays by appointment. The gallery will be closed for Labor Day Weekend at 1:00pm on Friday, August 30 and reopen on Tuesday, September 3. The gallery is fully accessible by wheelchair. SVA will also host an artist talk with Sagmeister on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at 7:00pm at the SVA Theatre.

Features

The award-winning designer revisits his past and discusses his new retrospective at SVA.