Hello again, savvy savers! Today finds us with a new book review, and this time its Design the Life You Love, by Ayse Birsel.
This book claim absolution, but delivers mediocrity. To begin, it would be a fair assessment to state that most people want certain things out of life. Most of us know what we want and need to be happy. Most people have a grasp on what joy is and means to their lives. The question then becomes, why is the life we want to lead so difficult to attain. “Design the Life You Love” promises to help us with this process. In fact, the synopsis claims that it “uses a simple but proven creative thinking and design process to give ordinary people new tools to think about life differently…” This is not the case.
The claim that any sort of “proven” process is included within the pages is false. The author references her design company several times, which left me to wonder if this was really meant as a marketing tool for her business, a defacto plug-in for a failing business venture. In fact, she states that the book came about as an experiment, designed to share with her business team, and this is also coupled with the various, unnecessary “refreshers to the text” throughout. These fillers than anything that adds any substance.
The blurb is enticing and alluring. Unfortunately, this book did not deliver on this promise. The idea of “ striking design and Ayse Birsel’s hand-drawn art and type set off her brilliant, life-changing design process, empowering and inspiring readers to create a better life.” This is a bold statement to begin with. In my opinion, the claim that this book contains any sort of “life-changing design process” is a simple a sentiment that was just not back up!
