AIMEE SEALFON ENG: my happiness project
www.myhappinessproject.blogspot.com
After a false start in 2005, Aimee Sealfon Eng revived her happiness project this past summer. She was in the middle of a move to a smaller apartment and needed something creative to boost her mood. This project’s simple premise—documenting one thing that makes her happy each day—seemed like the perfect solution. “It’s finding something wonderful in the everyday,” says the art director at And Partners in New York. “Having to look for something really elicits the joy. It’s internal work.”

This time around she switched tactics, moving from an unwieldy InDesign document to a public blog. Sealfon Eng’s new medium makes updating easy and adds a level of accountability to the project. “If I say I’m going to do it everyday, I have to,” she says. “I’m motivated by shame.” With this online format, it’s simple to combine text with images, sound, and even video. Past entries include video of subway performers and a photo of a green Schwinn bike that Sealfon Eng covets whenever she happens across it locked up on the street. She pairs each item with thoughts on why it made her happy, giving insight into her personality.

As a designer, Sealfon Eng says side projects help her stay inspired. “I’m really interested in projects that help me see the world in a new way,” she says. “I think as a graphic designer it’s all about how you see things.” With this project, she’s training herself to notice the small things around her and look for meaningful connections. She believes documenting strengthens her vision, offering an opportunity to take her creative thinking to the next level.

The blog also gives readers a new perspective. “It’s a calendar but time is marked in a different way,” she says. “I think people are always fascinated by the passage of time expressed in unconventional methods.” Sealfon Eng hopes to keep up her entries as long as she can and eventually would like to present the project in a print format.

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