Make Me Feel Good

I was leasurely browsing through a bookstore on Oxford Street today when I stopped to pick up some book on typography. Not two seconds into it I felt a hand start to pat me on the shoulder. I turned around and there was an old asian man in a khaki members jacket and tweed pants with a slight hunch in his stance. He just looked at me and smiled, then extendend an unabashed hand in my direction and I automatically grabbed it and returned the gesture. He ended this strange encounter by complenting with "very good". He continued to smile and walked away.

I was quite struck by this engagement I had with a stranger. For few good hours after the event I couldn't help but smile because of the old man. He had made my day. One of the most simplest forms of acknowledgement was all it took to lift me from the solitary gloom that I tend to hide under when left alone too long. People like to feel appreciated and within design I feel that if that can be achieved through product design or exhibition design or even editorial the response would be quite positive and the memory and association would retain longer within an audience. Designs that are authentic and unique, that take us out of our daily element and make us smile.
Heres a few designs I have come across that made my day:

Unilever Series @ TATE Modern
The Sketch Gallery bathroom designs
A Praire Home Companion (live)
McSweeney's
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