Statement of Intent 01
Statement of Intent
Happiness is a positive emotion and satisfaction with life. (Argyle, 2001) According to an investigation of happiness reports from 29 Asian countries, only about 2% of the participants responded being very happy, while 18.7% responded being very unhappy. (Inoguchi & Tokuda, 2017)
Visual communication is a tool to convey message and emotion. It affects one’s behaviour, thoughts and emotions.(Barnard, 2005) Therefore, designers are encouraged to interact with the audiences through their work in order to amplify a sense of belonging which is one of the elements to being happy. (Sääksjärvi & Hellén, n.d) Designers may also include round shapes or colourful designs while designing because these elements can make people feel happy.(Lee, 2018) Besides, colour is one major component of visual communication, and it is a useful and valuable tool in design. It affects one’s emotion, and behaviours. For example, yellow can bring happiness as it represents sun, brightness and warmth. (Lee, 2018)
Furthermore, visual storytelling and humour are also techniques to bring happiness as it can connect one person to another through shared familiar experiences.(Wright, 2018) For example, a HongKong illustrator, Venus has done a project which named “大大与小妹” with series of short stories. Every short story consists of its own storyline and it is designed in a humorous and exaggerated way. The facial expressions of the characters are exaggerated and people feel happy while reading her designs. (Venus, n.d)
In conclusion, happiness and joy can be brought by visual communication through storytelling. As designers, we can bring happiness and joy to the audiences and help people become happier through our practice.
Annotated Bibliography
Argyle, M. (2001). The Psychology of Happiness. British Library. Retrieved from
The author describes the psychology of happiness and provides a comprehensive research on the nature of happiness. He has explored the nature of positive and negative emotions, and the psychological and cognitive processes involved in their generation. The author also analyzes the individual personality based on different perspectives and came out with some solution to enhance happiness.
Barnard, G. (2005). Graphic Design as Communication. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. Retrieved from
The author gave explanations on the role and function of graphic design, as well as communication theory. He explains how images and texts communicate with different cultural groups and also some techniques on how to come out with designs that can communicate with target audiences.
Inoguchi, T & Tokuda, Y. (2017, March 15). Individual and Country-Level Effects of Social Trust on Happiness: The Asia Barometer Survey. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-2305-7_8
The researchers discuss the relationship between individual-level and country-level social trust to individuals’ happiness. Analysis survey results which are related to individual happiness are being discussed by using cross-national data of 39,082 participants from 29 Asian countries. They also discuss the relationship between happiness and gender, age, marriage, income and education.
Lee, I.G. (2018, April). Where joy hides and how to find it. TedTalk. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/ingrid_fetell_lee_where_joy_hides_and_how_to_find_it
The speaker researched and studied about joy and revealed how people can find it around them. She gave explanations on the differences between joy and happiness with some relevant evidence, and pointed out some ways to gain happiness.
Nielson, J. (n.d). THE IMAGINATIVE POWERS OF THE USERS’ MIND- from Visual Communication to Visual Interaction. Copenhagen Business School. Retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/reader/17276939
The author discusses the relationship between visual communication and visual interaction, and mainly focuses on digital visual communication. Different theoretical perspectives on visual communication are being discussed and some relevant information related to communication studies, film and media analysis, and architecture are given by the author.
Rider, R. (2009). Color Psychology and Graphic Design Applications. Honors Program Liberty University. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1118&context=honors
The author explains and discusses how colour influences human perception, preference, and psychology. Explanation on how colour psychology can be applied in graphic design to become the effective and influential elements are given. Relevant evidence on how colour affects and influences people by using different colour hues, brightness and saturation are also given.
Sääksjärvi, M & Hellén. K. (n.d). How Designers and Marketers Can Work Together to Support Consumers’ Happiness. International Journal of Design, 7(3), 33-44.
http://index.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/viewFile/1472/588
The authors explain how the designer and marketers can work together to bring happiness to consumers through products and designs. Solutions and techniques on how to bring happiness to the consumers through products and designs are given based on designer’s and marketer’s perspectives. Evidence on how good product design can make consumers happy are also provided.
Sagmeister, S. (2004, February). Happiness by Design. TedTalk. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_happiness_by_design#t-631378
The speaker took the audience on a whimsical journey through some happy moments of his life and explained how these moments gave him inspiration. He gave explanations on the meaning of happiness and provided some good examples of happiness designs.
Venus. (n.d). Lenus_ig. Instagram. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/lenus_ig/
The illustrator came out with a series of short stories based on her life experiences. Various visual storytelling techniques are being used and every short story is well plotted. The characters are also designed with exaggerating facial expressions and body language.
Wright, J. (2018). Application of Narrative Principles to Effectively Communicate Through Graphic Design. Liberty University MFA. Retrieved from
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1496&context=masters
The author discusses the importance of applying good storytelling in graphic design. He evaluates various storytelling techniques and fundamental aspects of narrative theory, plot, and emotion. The author also provides insight on how applying the same principles to graphic design creates a unified message that conveys both information and emotion.
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