In a survey I conducted, I found that around 47.5% of students are NOT comfortable reaching out for help despite the exceptionally high levels of depression and anxiety that have been recorded. My solution for this issue is Mental Health Monday, an annual event for incoming freshmen. This concept is meant to tackle the systemic problem from the very root of the college experience, and ideally make a permanent change for the better. On Mental Health Monday, freshmen would receive a Mental Health Handbook: a physical resource for them to keep.
Poll #1
Poll #2
Goals & Challenges
The main goal of this project was to eliminate mental health taboos that may be preventing students from reaching out through a system of open communication, awareness, and unity that I created through design. With this, the goal of the handbook they receive is to immediately provide students with a mental health resource full of facts and advice that they can reference at any time. The main challenge of this project was designing something that a college student will take seriously, find useful, and find visually appealing.
Research
I began my project by researching the correlation between Covid-19 and college student mental health through scholarly articles, interviews, and surveys before finally brainstorming my plan of action for Mental Health Monday. As my concept grew, I was able to come up with some rough prototypes that are shown below. I then tested my prototypes by conducting a user test where I had members of my target audience review what I had come up with. From this, I concluded an event that provided a physical handbook containing a variety of resources (rather than focusing on one topic) was the most realistic option for me to pursue.
Digital Prototype
Advertising Prototype
Pamphlet Prototype
Booklet Prototype
With my concept now solidified, I began sketching potential layouts for advertisements and for The Mental Health Handbook. I also created mood boards in order to spark further inspiration.
Advertising sketches
Cover sketches
Content sketches
Spread sketches
Moodboard for handbook
Moodboard for advertising
Design Approach
My sketches helped me easily solidify a grid system to use while working on the handbook layout. I also decided on my final deliverables: an itinerary for Mental Health Monday, a speaker at the event, promotional advertisements for the event, The Mental Health Handbook cover, table of contents, and three additional spreads. Below are a few examples of my digital process. As for my approach, I stuck to a modern, yet professional and easy-to-absorb style that my college student target audience tends to appreciate. I used interesting layouts combined with simple color and type choices so my designs would be both visually appealing and easy to digest.
Unity spread
Content spread
Awareness ad
Final Design Solutions
My final deliverables are categorized by Awareness (spreading the word), Action (the anchor), and Continued Engagement (a product for continued use). For my final designs, I used my system based on communication, awareness, and unity to not only help organize the topics that would be discussed on Mental Health Monday and in the Handbook but to help create a sense of community on campus. My advertisements, shown below, fulfill my Awareness deliverable because they are designed to spread the word about Mental Health Monday.
Mockup of three advertisements for Mental Health Monday
For my Action deliverable, I created a couple of mockups to help visualize what the Mental Health Monday experience might be like, including examples of an itinerary for the day and a speaker at the event.
Itinerary
Speaker
Lastly, my cover and spreads from The Mental Health Handbook fulfill my Continued Engagement deliverable. This is what students would be able to take home from the event and continuously reference if they are ever experiencing any mental health struggles.
Cover
Contents
Section 1: Communication
Section 2: Awareness
