Interview with 2009 AIGA Fellow Louise Sandhaus

Louise Sandhaus is the former director of the Graphic Design Program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and current full-time faculty. Her design office, LSD (Louise Sandhaus Design, frequently partners with other designers, programmers, writers, educators, architects, and clients to realize projects across a range of media including print, screen, and environmental. Her clients include Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles Modern Auctions, UCLA Hammer Museum, and Target among many others. She is also currently editing a book on California Graphic Design between 1936-1986 entitled Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires and Riots: California and Graphic Design. Her work has been recognized by PRINT, AIGA 365, among many others and is in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Bibliotheque nationale de France, Paris. Louise holds an MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA and a Post-Graduate Laureate from the Jan van Eyck Ackademie, The Netherlands.

SA: Louise, the AIGA Fellow award exists to give the highest honor possible to individuals who have had a strong impact on Los Angeles' design reputation, community, and industry. It also serves as recognition of the enormous amount of service that you have given to the community. What does it mean to you to receive this award?

LS: First, I thought it was a joke when Michael called. I didn't think of myself as spotlight material and I feel guilty about the "service to the community" part because it came out a certain degree of selfishness - which was to enlarge the design conversation and expand the community of ideas in which I was playing. And, really, a huge amount of credit for my involvement goes to Petrula Vrontikis, who gave me opportunities on a silver platter. Are you going take back the award now?

SA: I think it's that quality of yours that so easily passes credit to others that is remarkable and generous. You've been involved with design history here in Los Angeles for some time. Southern California has always been at the forefront of so many design fields from architecture to communication. What is it, for you, that make Southern California a special place, and how does it impact your work?

LS: As April Greiman says - it's the light. Lightness of being, liberation from heavy clothes and the lugging around the dreariness of thinking you must repeat the past.

SA: Times are scary right now for all of us. I can't imagine how stressful it is to be a recent graduate right now. What advice would you give to a designer out there right now who is concerned about our economy and the ability to make a living as a designer?

LS: Those who want it bad enough will survive. Oh wait a minute isn't that a reality TV show?! I graduated from school during a really really bad economy in the 70s and after a year of employment in a dream-job, I was laid-off. I spent a year searching for another job and then finally had to relocate to Birmingham, Alabama, where the economy was doing better.

That said, these are very different times and for anyone to survive you're going to have to offer clear value and be nimble - meaning you have to have skills, an evident willingness to do what needs to be done, you work well with others and are nice to be around. Consider who YOU would hire if you were busy enough to need help. That said, consider what being a designer means - it gives you a lot of skills that apply to a lot of different realms. Ending up doing work in different than you expected could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

SA: I agree. In some ways it forces everyone to be that much better. So, what is your obsession? That is, what drives your work and wakes you up on the morning excited to do it?

LS: Rebelliousness. That's what gets me in the morning. That and my cat that whacks me in the face every morning.

SA: I've always loved that aspect of your work. There is a theme of the subversive in much of it, even it is simply questioning a simple precept. Now that you've gotten the Fellow award, and are being bowed to on the street, is being a famous designer everything it's cracked up to be?

LS: Let me find a famous designer and I'll ask them.

SA: Louise, to paraphrase President Reagan, "There you go again." Don't you know you have the right to be a huge diva now? Okay, now some questions that are critical for the rest of us.

Name your

1. Favorite LA restaurant:
LS: Pie 'n Burger (its in Pasadena)

2. Best place to get inspired:
LS: The New York Times (they cover LA too)

3. Book on your nightstand right now:
LS: You mean on my iPod? I've stopped "reading" and just listen. Right now I'm listening to My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk - a story in which some of the characters are pictures who tell you about their experiences as depictions. Like a painting of tree who doesn't want to a picture of tree but rather the meaning of the tree. Take heed and heart, designers!

4. Car:
LS: 2005 Honda Hybrid. I OWN it!

5. How do you spend a typical Wednesday night:
LS: Oh you mean that day when I'm recovering from Monday and Tuesday and getting ready for Thursday?

6. Favorite place to buy clothes:
LS: Carol Young, Undesigned (sustainable materials, smart and beautiful design, small, locally-produced, in my neighborhood, and I know Carol)