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Happy flow

Posted on September 21st 2011

Lists, flowcharts and illustrations. Stefan G Bucher has designed a self-help manual for the creatively minded.

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While there may not be an equation for happiness, a flowchart might be more useful in figuring life’s big questions.

And it’s all here, in one beautifully designed book by Stefan G Bucher. Yes, 344 Questions: The Creative Person’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Insight, Survival and Artistic Fulfillment is a self-help guide like no other.

344 Questions is filled with lists and flowcharts, in Bucher’s characteristic style, and they all aim to help you puzzle out the Big Stuff. From analyzing what makes you feel grateful to exploring your ideas of happiness and planning where you want to be, 344 Questions is more than a self-imposed psychoanalytical job, it’s just a lot of fun.

In addition to Bucher’s questions, lists and charts, the book also features contributions but the likes of Christoph Niemann, Stefan Sagmeister, Marian Bantjes and Jakob Trollbäck.

The book was designed to be explored in sequence but it works just as well if you just want to randomly select a section that appeals to you. 344 Questions asks to be tucked into and doodled on, it wants to be used and enjoyed rather than sit stagnant on a bookshelf or coffee table somewhere.

This is like alternative, creative self-help at its best.

Buy the book here.

Stefan G Bucher

Stefan G Bucher is the man behind 344 Design and the Daily Monster – an online drawing and storytelling experiment. His monsters have invaded computer screens all over the world, and their savage adolescence is chronicled in the book 100 Days of Monsters (2008).

Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister formed the New York based Sagmeister Inc in 1993 and has since designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones, HBO, and the Guggenheim Museum. Having been nominated five times for the Grammies he finally won one for the Talking Heads boxed set.

Marian Bantjes

Marian Bantjes has been variously described as a typographer, designer, artist and writer. Working from her base on a small island off the west coast of Canada, her personal, obsessive and sometimes strange graphic work has brought her international recognition.

Christoph Niemann

Christoph Niemann was born in Waiblingen, Germany, in 1970. After his studies at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts, he moved to New York City, where he has been working as an illustrator, animator and graphic designer since 1997.

Jakob Trollbäck

Swedish self-taught designer Jakob Trollbäck leads the innovative and highly successful Trollbäck + Company. As a recognised industry leader in branding and motion graphic design, they create award-winning work.