Happiness Research

The Happy Show

Stephen Sagmeister

In 120 year istory the museum on vancoover hosts one of the largest exhabitions, this spectacle transends the boudry between art and design, the exhabition takes over the museums galleries and stairwells, hallways and restrooms to seek our answer to, what makes us happy?

After sagmeister documented his troubles with alchol and drugs, weight gain and depression, he conceptualised ‘the hapy show’ in an attempt to define and control his own happiness. the exhabition is a result of sagmeisters year off, in that time he researched into his own peraonl hapiness.

The exhabition includes a great mix of installations, imaginative typographical displays, and interactive artworks.

After watching stephen sagmeisters ted talk on the key to happiness, he speaks about how its about evoking hapiness, soething so simple can make you simle out in a public place, its about the unexpected.

Subway Signs

"True"

In stephen sagmeisters happness ted talk, he mentions a young designer based in new york who goes by the name of ‘true’. he set out to evoke happiness as sagmeister instsed we must do, not just demonstrate what happiness looks like, that can be easier to do.

the new york designer did this because as commuters we dont look at these signs or take any notice of them, but if your sat and you take a quick glance and realise they are not what they usually say, and the things they do say are coical, it would evoke a smile on your face, you would tae photos and tell people about what you had sen because it was so out of the ordinary.

its somehting that will brighten up someones day and make them laugh,

The Room

James Turrell

Another new york project, basically a square room by James Turrell, that has a retractable ceiling.Opens up at dusk and dawn every day. You don’t see the horizon. You’re just in there, watching the incredible, subtle changes of color in the sky. stephen sagmeister comments on how the room is truly something to be seen. People’s demeanor changes when they go in there. And, for sure, I haven’t looked at the sky in the same way after spending an hour in there.

there is another version of this in the yorkshire sculpture park called the ‘deer shed’. the idea is simple, the small things in life byt the relaxatioon it gives you to not see the outside would but watch the changing sky is therapeutic.

this made me realise that the project can also be a concept of design rather than a campaign or an advert, i want to make somehting breathtaking and inspiring. to do so i need to think personal and deep to get the best out of my skills.

Speech Bubbes

Ji Lee

Ji Lee is the multidisciplinary creative who believes success follows fun. On the streets of New York, in 2002, speech bubble-shaped stickers began appearing. Bus stops, telephone booths, billboards, subway trains – anywhere there was an advert, you were likely to find a bubble stuck over the top of it.

The stickers were left blank, inviting passers-by to fill them with their own thoughts. “I use it to download porn,” reads the bubble added to one IBM ad. “I steal music,” a model holding an iPod was made to say, “and I’m not going away.”

this designer let the adueince take control of the campaign, they could do what they wanted to on the speech bubbles, express themselves in an anomynous way that works for them.

it brings people joy to be able to write somehting that no one knows was them and that everyone will see, it brings out the child in them and it evokes happiness. somehting that dosent represent hapiness but creates it.

thsi infleunces me because i now understand what sagmeister meant when he said to ‘evoke happiness’.