Building Happiness / The Next Poster

The exhibition "The Next Poster" (designforum Steiermark, Graz) explores the possibility of future developments for "poster art" in the digital age. The poster has long been a significant component of design education, serving as a medium for both commercial and artistic objectives. Not only is it important to use creative techniques, but it's also crucial to address the history and prospects of this highly variable medium. The Graz fall theme "Art of Seduction" included the project "The Next Poster" focuses on the technological developments and extensions of the poster medium.

As my contribution to the exhibition, I wanted to keep the conventional medium of an analog poster, but extend it with augmented reality. The viewer should get the impression of pulling out more information with their phone through AR. First, I created a poster with a text on it, which gets partially extruded when applying AR. This way, a new message appears. The addressed topic is about happiness and the idea that we would lead a happier life if we would be somewhere else, doing something else, with someone else. In a further development of the poster and after questioning a few people about happiness, I modified the message of my poster. In the final version, the poster emphasizes our influence on our happiness, because I believe that we are in charge of our own happiness, at least to a large extent. After prototyping with the application Adobe Aero, I created an Instagram filter with Spark AR to make the AR extension accessible for anyone with an Instagram account. People at the exhibition will be able to scan the poster with their Instagram camera and see 3D building blocks with words on them. They can switch between 3 options.

Exhibition Opening 21/09/22

Scanning QR code with phone camera

Redirecting to Instagram

3D extension of the poster appears on phone

Users can switch between three different options

A viewer can digitally extend this analogue poster using augmented reality. By scanning the poster with the Instagram camera on their phone or a tablet, spectators get to see a virtual third dimension and "extruded" meaning. These "building blocks of happiness" show textual fragments of happiness. A viewer can influence the overall message by choosing from three categories: grey building blocks representing happiness killers, colourful building blocks representing happiness-enhancing factors or colourful building blocks with a highlight emphasizing the message that you are in charge of your happiness.

HOW TO INTERACT: Use your mobile's Instagram to augment the poster. Interact by touches in the app.