30 Days of Genius- Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister's words are in bold. My comments are in italics.

• "Design something that helps somebody or delights somebody"
• Projects should be one or the other- beneficial or joyous. If it is not doing one of those, what is it's true purpose? What is the designer's?

• "Projects should live on their quality" 
• The best work doesn't require the most marketing to promote it. Producing excellent products is the best way to selling them. If you create a good film, people will watch it for a long time. If you create a bad film, people will watch it only as long as you market it- but even then, they will not be helped or delighted.

• "I am the world’s #1 expert on my own happiness"
• No one knows better than you do what can and should make you happy. Everyone has a guess, but no one has the answer. Think about what it is that brings about your joy, and pursue it. 

• "You develop a personal style by not worrying about it. A fast feedback loop is essential to developing your style."
• Do not stress about what your personal style is until you have the ability to receive feedback on it. And once you are receiving consistent feedback from people you trust, adjust your work between your preferences and the audiences' until you find the style that brings about the most success.
• Stefan's emphasis on feedback's relation to personal style is interestingly different from others (Tim Ferriss, Brené Brown) who say that you should create the work that you value without altering to the opinions of others, because that creates the most honest work. I suppose a mix- trust in your work and appreciation of the feedback your audience (ie. benefactors and customers) provide- leads to happiness within large scale success.

• Take 1 year off from work every 7 years- it helps increase creativity and abilities
• Stefan takes one full year off of work for every seven he works. The first time he did this, he was afraid of what people would think, how they would look at his work, if he would ever get hired again. There was a great fear.
• Once he committed to his year off, he found that his ability to design and create was elevated to a point where his return to work produced the greatest results. And, because customers couldn't have him for one year, they all flocked to him eagerly upon his return. 
• This is similar thinking to Arianna Huffington's assertion that the best ideas come out of stillness.

• "5 projects is the ideal number of projects for a creative to be working on"- Chase Jarvis
• Too many projects cause distraction, too few can silo the creative into one mindset, which is restricting. Balancing 5 projects allows the mind to shift from one to the other and have projects in very different arenas benefit each other.
• My own work spans 3-4 creative projects at any point. I see tangible benefits across the borders often enough to believe in the power of creating diversity in the mind.

• Think about the project from the point of view that has nothing to do with the project
• Having trouble designing a book cover? Think about a glass of water, and draw parallels (can you book be transparent? Fluid? Does it even need to be a rectangular shape?) 
• Forcing your mind to attack ideas from directions they have never before been viewed will create great, unique work. Or it won't. Regardless, the thinking process will be more creative, original, and enjoyable. And those three factors can definitely lead to great work.