A Question A Day is a 30-day minimalistic journal aiming to help people find their happiness by guiding them with daily prompts, quotes that match the day's question, and visual space that invites a certain freedom of expression in the form of sketches or words.
Happiness Journal front cover
Brief
The Happiness Journal was made for a creative project in a non-graphic design class called "Innovation in Action". The assignment was to create something innovative that would be helping a cause or solving a problem.
One of the 30-day prompts
The layout: a question on the left page, a quote on the right page
Creative Process
Background
I focused on the problem of an overly digitalized world where tangibility is slowly fading away and individuals are losing touch with their happiness because of the growing reliance on technology.
I chose to make a journal, as journaling was shown to improve the mental state and overall happiness of an individual if practiced for at least 5 minutes at least 3 times a week.
Design Thinking
I proceeded to hold prototyping sessions in class where classmates would privately respond to a prompt using doodles, sketches and words in the span of around 5 minutes, along with some relaxing music. The majority reported feeling better after this exercise.
I continued to print sample questions for people to test, as well as experimenting with the layout (outlines, smaller pages, etc.).
Simple flipbook animation doodles at the bottom of the right page
Challenges
The challenges encountered were mostly related to the journal's content:
• finding the right balance between not enough elements and too many
• designing a layout that will be inviting enough for users to open up
• making the prompts interesting enough for individuals who journal and friendly enough for ones who don't
Quote page
Flipbook animation doodle along with the footer
Front cover with a zoom-in on the textured paper, meant to reflect the tangible aspect of paper as opposed to screens
Personal business logotype
Final Outcome
Favorite Details
A fun little touch to this journal is the simple flipbook animation beginning with a seed that grows into a flower, which then becomes a butterfly that flies away, and a heart that transforms into a smiley face.
This simple yet impactful detail symbolizes the individual as a seed being planted, and with patience, growing into a flower that sets itself free as a butterfly, therefore finding happiness.
Lessons Learned
The lesson learnt during this project revolved around not expecting the end result to reflect the original idea. I had originally planned to design a gratitude journal with rather repetitive pages but the feedback and prototyping helped me design an improved, more interesting and elaborate version. Another thing I learned was that people often work well with guidance, and a journal providing daily prompts instead of an entirely blank paged notebook is more likely to encourage the user to journal.
Future Paths
As I have already sold a few of these journals through my personal business, I am planning on making the "A Question A Day" journal into a series, where I would be designing 30-day journals following the same concept and style for various purposes and themes, such as self-love, relationships, or even overcoming grief.