Happiness. It is probably the one thing that we all want, yet it seems to be illusive and often ephemeral. In pursuit of a better understanding of the nature of happiness, designer Stefan Sagmeister known for his rock 'n roll collaborations and typographic work, decided to engage in a series of self-experiments. These experiments form the basis for his passion project The Happy Film.
The project came about when a colleague challenged Sagmeister to do something that was 'more worthwhile' during his sabbatical taken every seven years.
"It occurred to me that I should heed his advice and took some time off from taking time off. And thought about what it could be that would be interesting for me and possible beneficial for a viewer and that is where the idea for the film came about.”
When I thought about why I actually get out of bed in the morning or why I do the things that I do, the very end results of what I am doing or the reasons why I am doing it, seem to be connected to well being or happiness. And I though maybe it would be worthwhile seeing if happiness could be pursued more directly, he says.
He concludes: “I did not want to make a film where it is 15 experts telling me what happiness is. The hope is when we ever finish the film that it would be a very personal film that tracks my little journey through these experiments.”
