design345

Emoticons Collection

“Emoticons, The emotional meaning of form, shape & music” is a book – and a furniture collection – by Tomas Ekström that explores emotional design. Ekström, who works under the alias Kallbrand, is a designer and illustrator from Stockholm, Sweden. His exploration of emotional design began with the question “How do you design happiness?” Says Ekström, “Why do we like the things we do? Why do some musical pieces make us feel sad while others make us happy, and why do they effect us emotionally at all? We have all most likely experienced that music has this direct emotional influence on us, but is it possible that art and design do too? If so, what exactly is it that control the emotional message that is being conveyed by a form, shape or piece of music, and how do you communicate the same emotion unanimously in different media?” With Emoticons Ekström tries to unearth and explain the “emotional valence of the fundamental elements and principles that constitute the media of form, shape and music. The properties that make up each media is methodically and thoroughly investigated and different ways of manipulating them so as to purposefully communicate a specific emotional message”.source