Reflection

After some reflection on my previous projects and task reactions, it’s become transparent that my practice is centred around helping people and provoking emotion. Whether this is through a visual language or an interactive service, most of my projects have revolved around trying to lift people’s spirits and finding ways which we can use to design to aid those that suffer with their mental health.

Today, we are subjected to a blur of constant noise, from the reel of negative connotations fed to us by the morning news to the brags and abuse you scroll through on your social media at night. Within the past decade mental health issues have been on the rise, particularly in young adults. Although there aren’t too many direct studies that link these two factors together, it’s hard to believe that this is merely a coincidence.

In previous projects I’ve tackled this in many different ways, but I’ve never just simply aimed for the weak spot of it all. Joy! How can I use joy as a tool to counteract the negatives and improve people’s days, commutes and overall mental health?

For my final MA project, I’m wanting to conduct a project that will investigate ways of which design can be used to manifest joy within people’s everyday lives.