Life is busy, sometimes overwhelming, and it becomes so easy to get caught up in the day to day, to forget what makes one truly happy. Simple Matters advocates for a shift in the working adult's perspective on happiness and encourages introspection to cut through the clutter of the day. The project began with extensive research into the psychology of the working adult and the culture which influences them, the focus of our culture on materialism and its influence on happiness, and into attempts to define happiness and the power of introspection in this. Research was compiled into a book of notes, with reflection from myself at key points to study what I had learned and how it would be applied to design concepts and deliverables. From what I learned in my research, I began iterations on logos, project names, and colors until I found my matches: A logo of interlocking circles to represent the whole, the inner-self, and the ability to connect between the two with introspection. Simple Matters, to reinforce the importance of simplifying one's life to core sources of happiness and to emphasize the power of the small things in comparison with the grand, material, those "things" which often become points of stress or unhappiness in many adults' lives. A soft blue, a color found to be associated by our society with calm, trustworthiness, and loyalty. From this research and these initial design steps, I was able to push forwards to deliverables that would enhance the message and aim of the project.

To achieve this goal, I considered the average adult, what they would normally use in their day-to-day, what would be convenient for them, what would integrate easily with their already busy day rather than hindering it. The primary medium for Simple Matters resolved in a pocket-sized foldout, small enough even to fit in a wallet, which would assist the individual in shifting their perspective and utilizing self-reflection to find happiness without giving them a set direction; research had taught me that the process is based off the individual alone and thus cannot be dictated for them. Other deliverables included a poster that could be present in bus stops or subway stations, and which would target the commuting adult. A mobile application was also designed to help technology-dependent workers find locations near themselves to pursue their main sources of happiness based off a preference system, and a website was created to provide an overview of the project and its process.