Things I have learned in my life so far | 
 enlarge | Author: Stefan Sagmeister
Creators: Daniel Nettle, Steven Heller, Nancy Spector
Publisher: Abrams
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy New: $20.99
You Save: $19.01 (48%)
New (31) Used (12) Collectible (1) from $20.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 8848
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 15
Pages: 248
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0810995298
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.6092
EAN: 9780810995291
ASIN: 0810995298
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, March 2008: Many consider Stefan Sagmeister to be our most important living designer, but he reaches beyond design circles in sharing 20 Things I have learned in my life so far, including the fact that "keeping a diary supports personal development." Proving his point, this book grew from a list in his diary during a year-long commercial hiatus. He returned to paid work with greater freedom from clients and himself, and created a series of projects spelling out personal truths--"worrying solves nothing," "trying to look good limits my life," and other simple, meaningful statements. Most are public and interactive (words spelled out on the backs of swimmers in the Hudson River, or displayed by enormous blow-up monkeys lounging around Scotland, or flaming in Singaporean bamboo scaffolding), while others are more private experiments with intriguing materials (sausages, cacti, sperm). All are presented--along with personal anecdotes supporting his assertions and notes on the practicalities of creating each project--in an alluringly interactive format: a "box" of 15 booklets with unique covers that can be switched to transform the look of the case from creepy to lovely. --Mari Malcolm
Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Wonderfully entertaining January 8, 2009
Great Book by Stefan Sagmeister. Very entertaining and shows the perfection of his craft. Well written and illustrations beyond belief. A great showcase of his work. Need more books like this one.
Inspirational! December 5, 2008
"There is always someone who has done something cooler than what I am doing at the moment." This aphorism won't be found in Stefan Sagmeister's new book since I coined it myself, but it neatly summarizes the wonder and awe I felt when looking through these 15 booklets of words and images.
But surely it is a measure of the intensity and scope of his vision that it can shake one from artistic or moral complacency, and can inspire perhaps a new pathway to different kinds of creative thinking and a more considered involvement and connection with the world.
Sagmeister's "Everybody who is honest is interesting" is my favorite phrase and aptly informs, I believe, the designer's own Weltanschauung - where the best, most communicative art emerges only out of the most careful and honest self-examination. Or, as Socrates would have noted: "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Sagmeister Always Rocks October 3, 2008
Like his first book, this one is filled with clever design details and insights into his process. Unlike the typical designer, Sagmeister speaks of his process in terms that more are akin to self-improvement and self-analysis and than technique, giving us plebians insight into how the master works. A must for any design oficionado.
 A lovely present September 6, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm sorry I've bought it for myself and opened - it would have been a nice present. As much as I like this work, it's nothing more but a good stylish present, it's not enriching in any way.
Good Attempt...but left something to be desired August 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After attending his lecture on the same topic, this book left me with a somewhat dissatisfied feeling. I am very excited that Sagmeister, my all-time favorite designer, has attempted to say something worthwhile with the tools of the trade, but it seemed like nothing much was said. The design of the book was flawless, but didn't have the power of his book lecture. He was not "selling out" with this book, he was really trying to say something and this seems to be a good first try at doing something other than selling out, which is what we designers are famous for. Overall, it was average. Not bad, but not great. It left me wanting a little more meat with the sayings.
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