Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali.

Talks Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off

Ste­fan Sag­meis­ter is no mere com­mer­cial gun for hire. Sure, he’s cre­ated eye–catch­ing graph­ics for clients includ­ing the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed, but he pours his heart and soul into every piece of work. His design work is at once time­less and of the moment, and his painstak­ing atten­tion to the small­est details cre­ates work that offers some­thing new every time you look at it.

While a sense of humor invari­ably sur­faces in his designs, Sag­meis­ter is nonethe­less very seri­ous about his work; his inti­mate approach and sin­cere thought­ful­ness ele­vate his design. A gen­uine mav­er­ick, Sag­meis­ter achieved noto­ri­ety in the 1990s as the designer who self-harmed in the name of craft: He cre­ated a poster adver­tis­ing a speak­ing engage­ment by carv­ing the salient details onto his torso.

Read Also:

• Watch Stefan Sagmeister’s “7 rules for making more happiness” talk at TED
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• Watch Autodesk’s “Introduction to Design for Lifetime” video
• Watch John Hodgman’s “Design, explained” talk at TED
• Watch Chip Kidd’s “Designing books is no laughing matter… OK, it is!” talk on TED