The Happy Show

This past Tuesday an old graphic design friend and I went to see Stefan Sagmeister's The Happy Show at the Design Exchange. I received many emails prior to the show explaining what it was about, but I was still surprised by how much fun the exhibit was to visit. The first interactive asked visitors to take a gum ball from one of 10 machines representing how happy they were. This created an interesting visual that allowed you to see how happy other visitors were when they entered the exhibit (I kind of wish they had a second set at the end to see how the exhibit affected people). While my friend and I agreed that being with other people was likely to taint your decision, I was still excited to see that the 8, 9, and 10 machines had the most missing from them.

In lieu of panels, vinyl graphics and typography were applied directly to the wall with Sagmeister's hand written notes added below. The information presented was succinct and interesting, and I loved the streamlined illustrations accompanying the stats and stories. I thought that the interactives were a lot of fun and really enjoyed the personal touches such as Sagmeister's favourite candy and his stories that were added throughout the exhibit.

I would highly recommend this exhibit and am excited about the direction the Design Exchange is taking for the upcoming year.

Post Holiday Excitement

Now that the holidays are over I need something to look forward to again. Thankfully I solidified plans with my Mom over the break for an exciting trip to Europe in June!

After an all night flight we will land in London, England on June 9th and spend four days exploring. It is my first time to England and my Mom's first time to Europe so we will likely do all of the typical tourist things (suggestions are welcome!).

After our short time in London we will fly to Split, a coastal town in Croatia, for 6 days. I'm excited for lazing on the beach, water sports and hopefully a sailing trip to some of the Dalmatian islands off of the coast. I am also looking into nearby national parks, architecture and ruins as options for day trips. Lastly we will travel to Croatia's capital, Zagreb. I know the least about Zagreb but look forward to finding out what the city has to offer. I'm sure I will post more details as we make decisions but after the booking frenzy last week I couldn't wait any longer.