I thought and thought and thought. This topic just stuck in my head and I felt that I had to write something about it...
To those who don't know me very well: I am well-perceived as a bubbly person. At least from the outside. I like whimsical designs / products. Anything that has a smiley face on it, I would love it (most of the time). Something about the smiley face on a product catch my attention every time. I start to wonder why I am gravitated towards the smiley-face product one after another? Looking around the office, I realize I am not alone...
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Take a look at your desk and those around you. Notice all the smiley faces? Apart from the original yellow Smiley, these faces come in different shapes: wedding photos, little dolls, kids’ drawings or pictures of grinning friends. Most of us use smiley faces to adorn our work spaces and set the mood, so we can feel cozy and inspired. And, in design, there is something intriguing about the fact that people gravitate toward smiley faces. As a result, more and more products carry them.
When I started at Barkley about a year ago, I decorated my desk with items that would keep my energy up – most of them have a smiley character on them, and they are mostly from Asia. It is very common to see smiley-face products in Asian cultures – anything from an orange juice bottle to a sponge is personified to smile back at you from the shelf. I thought that happens mostly in Asia, but I soon realized this smiley trend happens all over the world. In fact, just the traditional yellow smiley face alone is registered and used in more than 100 countries for 25 classes of goods and services. I wondered what explains the craving for smiley packaging and why the little yellow faces are so powerful. As it turns out, there is evidence that shows a smiley face can make us happy even when we are not.
examples of smiley-face products from the internet.
A number of studies have shown that making a facial expression such as a smile can produce effects on the body that are similar to those that result from happiness. These studies indicate that people don’t smile because they are happy, they are happy because they smile. According to the facial feedback theory, our emotions can be regulated by behavior, particularly by facial expression. Thus, if we smile, we will feel better.
The smiley packaging is popular in different countries for one simple reason: people want to be happy. Products carrying the smiley face deliver people happiness via an emotional connection. As the inventor of the yellow smiley face, Harvey Ball, said, “Never in the history of mankind or art has any single piece of art gotten such widespread favor, pleasure, enjoyment …” People can easily lift their mood by just getting smiley-face products. Yet, in my mind, people seem to have gotten in the habit of purchasing smiley faces rather than making them.
So think about this and next time you rely on an item or a packaging design to brighten your space – smile back. It will decrease your heart rate and lift your mood. It might even help those around you feel better. It’s such a simple and beautiful act. As Harvey Ball said, “… nothing has ever been so simply done and so easily understood …”
So just smile :)
---------------------------------------------------------- This article is not just about the power of smiley-face products. It is about the importance of making a smiley face in our daily life. I hope people will realize that they can make a positive difference to their mood and others just by performing a simple smile :)
p.s. special thanks to my amazing friend, viva, who helped me so much in writing this article =]
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