Our first prolonged exposure to Stefan Sagmeister the man happened at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston at the tail end of the rip-roaringly overscheduled AIGA. Our first prolonged exposure to Stefan Sagmeister the designer had happened a few hours earlier while flipping through Design Literacy and thinking we should get some. Literacy, we mean. Another flip-happy graphic design book (there were so many) gave us the infamous Cranbrook lecture poster where he got an assistant to X-acto-carve the necessary (sometimes superfluous) information onto his body and took a picture. An example, we think (with our newfound literacy?), of sensationalism getting slightly confused for design. Still, we’ve never turned down a shot at shock, and we’re intrigued. So were the kids at Tokyo-based Ping Magazine, who were “just too curious to wait until he comes to Japan next!” and interviewed him in his NYC studio. He’s very honest:

Q: Is there any particular meaning for this series to be set up in Lisbon or…

A: No, it’s just because they asked and I always do what I’m asked.

Also discusses handmade typography, being slow, and binging for art. See above.