Stefan Sagmeister is an amazing Austrian Graphic Designer. I have seen his work before and have been blown away. He is a whimsical and fun designer who isn;t afraid to take risks. I was very excited to hear that we were required to go to The Happy Show for class. The advertisement hanging on the outside of the Chicago Cultural center was a large banner with someone holding a balloon filled with water. The balloon looks to be so heavy that it will soon drop and explode. Instantly the view can sense that besides the name saying Happy that this show will be fun, and carefree.
I really enjoyed walking through the exhibit. I feel like i was reading straight out of Sagmeisters journal. I loved that he wrote directly onto the walls, and let the public know what he was thinking. There was no fluff just truth and honesty in his little notes. He also gathered information and statistics from doctors, psychiatrists, other artists, to show his information came from credible sources. The way he displayed this information was whimsical and creative. He showed diagrams, and bar charts made of human figures. He used gum ball machines (which were broken) to do a real live test on peoples happiness who came to see the exhibit. There was a lot of interactive works, including a bicycle to ride or a brief period of time. I cold have spent hours at this show, if the Cultural Center wasn't about to close i would have.
Walking this exhibit i learned many things about happiness. One that stuck out the most was about money. Everyone needs more to survive weather that means having just enough or more than enough, money is an essential part of living. Sagmesiter showed a diagram of stacks of money behind a happiness curve. The curve showed that at a certain point having more money doesn't make you happier than the people with less money. I think all people should take a second and look at what this graph is saying. No matter the dollar amount over the highest point on the happy scale, the owner will not become happier. Happiness from money stops at a certain point, and real life kicks in. I think it is especially important for this generation to learn because people have become so obsessed with having it all, every new phone, or designer brand accessory but money and superficial things can only make a person happy to a certain extent. When the money is gone what will be left, either a sad lonely person missing their money, or a happy person because they discovered what really makes them happy in life. Money is there to help but it will not solve the problems! Sagmeister knows how to get a message across to his audience very well. His whole exhibit gets to the point of pure Happiness not the bullshit that people think is happiness. He releases the real nitty gritty facts in a fun and playful manner that people can understand.
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