Inward-looking, joy eludes while you look farther, and arrives when the everything-ness of a moment is reverently cherished. Described by JD Salinger as a ‘liquid’ feeling that exists in contradictions, joy can seem fleeting if you try holding onto it, but perseveres when you let it go. Joy is an emotion that doesn’t need a smile but the fullness of one's heart.

Creative fields such as art, architecture, and design are largely guided by precision in practice, joy not being a mandate to start from. But what happens when it does? How do the creations differ, the ones that start from a fullness of heart, and those that manifest into outcomes that fill your heart through the joy of their users?

In this issue, we unpack the mediums in which we can encounter joy—Jim Stephenson expands on the meaning of architectural joy via his installation ‘The Architect has Left the Building’. In ‘Alberto Meda: Tension and Lightness’, we navigate through the child-like wonder that design and immersive games can capture; an illustrated manual offers satirical advice on making it in the creative industry, and FIFA Museum's exhibition explores football's relation with design.

While it may not be possible to begin from a place of joy each time, how must we strive to reach there collectively?