stefan sagmeister: the happy show at design exchange (DX), toronto

‘stefan sagmeister: happy show’ at the design exchange (DX), canada’s design museum in toronto image © designboom

internationally renowned graphic designer stefan sagmeister – recognised for his work for heavyweight icons such as the rolling stones and talking heads, as well various provocative public art installations – again presents his experiential exhibition ‘the happy show’ which was first presented in philadelphia – covered by designboom here.

on now through to march 3rd, 2013 at the DX exhibit hall, design exchange (DX) in toronto, the display offers visitors the opportunity of entering sagmeister’s thoughts – thoughts influenced by a process of acquiring happiness with mind-altering interventions such as mediation, cognitive therapy, and mood-altering pharmaceuticals. revolving around the designer’s ten-year investigation of happiness, the show proffers typographic examples of a series of aphorisms – originally taken from sagmeister’s diary – manifested in a miscellany of styles signature to sagmeister’s practice. a selection of sagmeister’s work spans the museum space, accented by distinctive graphic visuals – either attempting to quantify the values of happiness or just plain cheeky illustrations. the work is presented in variety of imaginative and interactive forms characteristic of sagmeister and his approach.

the exposition displays sagmeister’s eclectic work alongside distinctive typographic accents dotted throughout the space image © designboom

the work is presented in variety of imaginative and interactive forms characteristic of sagmeister and his approach image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

distinctive graphic visuals – either attempting to quantify the values of happiness or just plain cheeky illustrations image © designboom

the show revolves around the designer’s ten-year investigation of happiness image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

the display offers visitors the opportunity of entering sagmeister’s thoughts image © designboom

image © designboom

provocative imagery signature to sagmeister’s style image © designboom

text excerpts displayed throughout the show are taken from the designer’s diary image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

stefan sagmeister on bringing the personal and the human into design video courtesy of design indaba

update: stefan sagmeister hopes to release ‘the happy film’ in 2014. the moving image feature came from the graphic designer’s desire to do something worthwhile. at design indaba 2014, the new york-based creative discussed the developments of this particular body of work which focuses on whether or not it is possible to document one’s happinss and control it to a certain degree, and what happiness means to different people. through his research he has come to the conclusion that it is not possible to reach a constant state of happiness, nor is it necessary.

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