Positive Design, Design for Happiness?

Positive design is an umbrella term for all forms of design, design research, and design intention that pay explicit attention to the impact of design on the subjective well-being of individuals and communities.

In recent decades, our material well-being has doubled, and we now have many more products, and better than we have ever had. We surround ourselves with products that solve every little problem, fill a need, make our lives safer and more comfortable and definitely make us feelgood. But if you look at emotional well-being, it turns out that it hasn't improved and maybe even deteriorated. We are witnessing an accelerated and ongoing narcotic consumption cycle, in which the promise of a new product undergoes rapid erosion and in a short time we look for the next novelty and thrill.

As designers and as a discipline, we are facing a gap that requires attention. A gap that represents a Paradox relative to the aspiration, that design will make a positive contribution to the individual user, and to society in general. Can we deliberately design products and services that increase the well-being of individuals and communities.? Is it possible to design for long-term value and long-term emotional well-being and happiness.?  Happiness in psychology, is a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences at a certain moment when a good thing happens the, or more broadly, as a positive assessment of his life situation and overall achievements. Are there and if so what are the elements that may promote well-being and happiness in the context of design? Will designing for more substantive values allow for more meaningful, higher-quality, longer-term products and thereby also reducing the level of consumption?

Illustration is one of the most traditional and powerful platform in the visual communication discipline. It is a visual language that allows us to convey a massage, tell a story, communicate information along side interpretation. In the course the students will practice classic challanges in the field of illustration. The projects develop gradually from a single Word-Image relationships to a series of visual depictions to ideas and concepts through the connection between the visual language chosen and the goal of the project. until they will have enough experience to illustrate a complete text. During the course we will work with varies formats' texts, aodiences, and techniques, in order for all the students at the Visual communication department to gain the basic skill of illustration, stylizing and image making.