The TED talk which I researched was delivered by Austrian graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister. Sagmeister attended the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where he majored in graphic design; he then continued his studies at the Pratt Institute in New York. After graduation, Sagmeister worked in Hong Kong under Leo Burnett’s Hong Kong Design Group, and later went on to work under Tibor Kalman’s M&Co. Since then, he has started his own design firm and created a multitude of creative album covers for various musicians and musical groups. Sagmeister’s TED talk interested me because he made multiple correlations between happiness of the consumer and designer to good designs. As founder of Sagmeister, Inc. in New York, Stefan Sagmeister has created a myriad of award-winning designs and packages for musical releases, making him undoubtedly a leader in the field of graphic design and packaging. In his TED talk, Sagmeister introduces to the audience lists of various events and happenings in his life that have made him truly happy (on a scale from comfort to contentment, joy, delight, and bliss); he then draws the connection between those events to products of good design which he may have used, witnessed, or even experienced. Later in his talk, Sagmeister describes the work of his fellow artists and their impact on those who come in contact with their respective artwork, stating the importance of good design on the happiness of both the designer and the consumer. After establishing this correlation, he explains the method in which to be able to design in such a way as to inspire happiness in not only the designer’s self, but also in others—methods such as free thinking (without deadlines), varying tools and techniques, working on projects that have significance to the designer himself, working on one project at a time, and having finished products return satisfactorily from the production process. After graduating from high school, I may consider pursuing a career in industrial or graphic design, much like Sagmeister himself. While in college, applying for an internship at a design firm or related to product design, packaging, interface design, or even advertising may be an option. A degree in either of these fields would be beneficial, of course, but the primary concern in this field is employment, as the competition is equally, if not more, innovative and talented, so graduate school may have to be postponed until after a few years of employment. Regardless of the amount of graduate schooling I receive, the focus of Sagmeister’s TED talk related largely to my view of designers in that they have tremendous power in being able to inspire happiness in a multitude of people through their creations—both in its creation and in it being shared with others. As an intricate mix between practicality and emotional experience, good design has the ability to instill happiness as a mutual, shared feeling between the creator and the consumers and exert great influence over the behavior and reactions of those who come in contact with it—and as a result of witnessing such great influence being exerted by great designers such as Sagmeister, I feel equally compelled to create and design on my own.
I think that Sagmeister's description of the mindset with which artists ought to pursue their work is highly effective as well as admirable. I feel like a majority of artists tend to lack on both sides where as Sagmeister tries to create an effective compromise between the two. Some artists tend to lean towards only what they find aesthetically pleasing, which isn't wrong. On the other hand, there are also artists who focus on pleasing the viewers at the expense of compromising their own creativity. While both of these methods can be effective, i feel like the middle ground that Sagmeister suggests is much more potent. Also, I find your interests admirable because you know that you're going into a field with the intention of creating a beautiful emotional and practical experience with which to present to your viewers.I also admire your drive to pursue graduate school after working for a few years. In my honest opinion, I feel like there is a difficult road ahead, but I also believe that you have the drive to push forward. Good Luck!
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