Books
Two books.
One process.
Interactive, illustrated guides to designing a life — and a long life — you love.
Ten Speed Press · 2015
Design theLife You Love
What if you approached your life the way a designer approaches a problem? Instead of accepting the life you’ve been given, design one that reflects who you are, what you value, and what you want to become.
Design the Life You Love is Ayse Birsel’s practical guide to applying design principles to your own life. An interactive journal that serves as a joyful, inspirational guide to building the life you’ve always dreamed of, using the principles and creative process of an award-winning product designer. It’s not about finding the perfect life. It’s about designing a life that is uniquely yours.
“A fun, interactive workbook for unleashing creativity and redesigning our daily lives.”
Running Press / Hachette · 2022
Design theLONG LifeYou Love
We are living longer than ever. But what if the question isn’t simply how long we live — but how we want to live those years?
Design the Long Life You Love invites us to rethink aging as a design challenge and imagine a long life filled with purpose, connection, curiosity, and possibility. Design a long life full of love, purpose, well-being, and friendship, at any age, using the creative tools of an award-winning product designer. Because getting older doesn’t mean your life gets smaller. It can get bigger.
“People casually use this term; this changed my life. In reality, they’re usually exaggerating, or it’s hyperbole. I can say for Ayse Birsel and her program, it did change my life in a huge way.”
Praise
“What took design so long, before it finally tackled the most important of all projects? It took Ayse Birsel, a designer that knows how to find elegant solutions for complex issues not only when it comes to products, but also when it comes to everybody’s search for serenity, inspiration, and fulfillment in life.”
Paola Antonelli
Senior Design Curator, MoMA
“Ayse’s book costs very little money, takes almost no time to go through and may have a gigantic impact on your life. This is good design: a tiny investment featuring enormous possibilities.”
Stefan Sagmeister
Sagmeister & Walsh
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