Stephan Sagmeister's Made You Look is a heart-wrenching journey of a graphic designer.

This is not another pretty coffee table graphic design book but rather a courageous, intelligent, witty life/work view of a creative artist. Sagmeister starts his journey chronologically and reveals how his career started. We learn about the thought process of each project and his communication with colleagues and clients.

The book was pure enjoyment to read. His personal touches of handwritten text scrawled through the pages reveal Stephan's thoughts during each paid and unpaid project (by the way, all the projects are listed with his budgets!). His handwriting became as familiar as an inner voice, speaking to me both in the book and in his work. He sought freedom in all the limitations of his projects.

His work comes from ideas. Style=Fart, right? Very little graphic design work has been so self-expressive and provocative. His humor reminds me of Tibor's (Kalman) who Sagmeister worked with at one time. We need more of these brilliant personalities (with attitude) in the graphic design world.

Recommended: Yes