Learning Outcomes
- Research the requirements of each of the four preselected project briefs. Post initial thoughts onto the Ideas Wall and elaborate with sketches and notes to rationalise your project selection. Add these to your blog.
- Research three competing agencies, studios or practitioners who have created work in a similar field to your selected project brief. Post website links onto the Ideas Wall and critique their work in your blog.
- Distill your research and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of three competing projects and post the results in your blog.
- Communicate a 200 word evaluation for each of the three competing projects, which summarises their strengths and weaknesses. Post the results in your blog, with supporting reference material.
Lecture Reflections:
My take aways from this weeks lecture is diversity of work. It would seem that while I have been trying to find my voice and way of working the message from this weeks lecture is not to become stuck down just doing one thing. Maybe this means that once I have found and refined my style and tone of voice I can then apply this principle to a range of outcomes. Or is this still working in one way? I like the idea of working in multiple disciplines and maybe this is why I have found it difficult to truly focus in on one thing and want to do it all. What I need to learn is how to master each one of these skill sets that I can then truly become a more rounded creative. I think that the role of the designer is not essentially to design something but to facilitate and communicate. This is something that I believe that I am able to do. Taking my skills as a Teacher I can bring ideas together and deliver a solution. Or propose a solution, the success for me is to truly refine my process so that I am able to deliver a clean and efficient solution.
MullenLowe London & Nadav Kander: Samaritans We Listen Campaign
The campaign developed by MullenLowe London & Nadav Kander has a good visual language, it is not intrusive and does hit on a issue. Its success as a piece of design however I am not convinced that it does go far enough to raise an awareness or even offer a true support network. My issue here is that people already have an understanding of what and who the Samaritans are and do. I agree that keeping the service at the constant view of the public is a great idea and maybe that is the sole intention of this project. I do not think that it is sufficient to truly help someone in crisis and I worry that a lot of designed outcome like this focus on the crisis point and support at the end. I would like to explore ideas and options that examine coping mechanisms and strategies that support individuals on a daily basis before crisis point is hit. In all cases with mental health I believe that the individuals must want to receive and be open to help and support. In true crisis I don’t think that this poster is enough for someone to get out their phone and call. I may be completely wrong here and I will look at the statistics on this but for my project I would like to focus in on the daily struggles of people with issues.
SWOT: The strengths of this project is that it certainly hi lights an issue that needs to be talked about more. I believe that the weaknesses here are that it does not go far enough to offer long lasting support to those who need help before a crisis point. The opportunity would be to continue this idea with a united message from a range of partners that aims to offer both continued support and coping mechanisms and also crisis help. The threat with this project is that it does hit on one key area of mental health but seems to neglect a whole range of other factors.
Ollie Alpin – Mind Journal
Mind Journal was created by graphic designer Ollie Alpin, inspired by his personal experience of anxiety, panic attacks and mental breakdown. Aimed at men, who are less likely to feel comfortable talking about their problems, he designed a discrete and stylish hard-bound journal that provides a structured framework for daily entries, encouraging writing as a way to navigate the challenges of life. Ollie sought input from academics, psychologists and user-testers, creating prototypes before finalising his product, which he funded through crowd-source fundraiser Kickstarter.
I have seen the mind journal advertised on Instagram and have been intrigued into the idea of this book. I do like this idea as it really hits home and tackles the problem of men opening up about issues that they may be going through. It can be difficult for guys to talk and the statistics around male suicide is outrageous. It occurred more than 1.8 times more than female suicides. The pressure to be a certain way, to act ‘like a man’ is strong in the male domain so any support that can be adopted is a great idea. I like this project as it does not focus on crisis point but it does provide meaningful and manageable steps to combat some of the social anxiety that can be felt in the male population. One documentary that I believe to be of interest is the Grayson Perry film, ‘All Man’ where he explores modern masculinity.
SWOT: I like the simplicity of the Mind Journal and how powerful that this approach can be. This project from Ollie Alpin helps to support the daily struggles that can occur with individuals struggling with mental health problems. It also hits on the real issue of male suicide in the under 50’s. However the weakness here is the attitudes towards writing down feelings and emotions that some men may have. In that case maybe this idea is not for them and another strategy would be more valuable. But that in itself is a stigma that needs to be broken. The opportunity for the mind journal would be to develop the project further and to create a community either globally or locally to support the notion of we are not the only ones who feel this way. The threat to this project is as I had mentioned above, the attitudes and barriers that some men will place in front of them and see this a thing that ‘real men don’t do’.
Mental health is becoming an increasingly explored topic in the design industry, particularly amongst graduates.
Ramon Telfer – Panic Attack Pebble
The Calming pebble works as a heart rate monitor that is held in a persons hand, it then uses light and sound to mimic the users heart rate. The focus and attention from the user to reduce their heart rate using this product should help support their return to a resting heart rate and to step out of the panic attack. Telfer drew upon his own experience, suffering from stress and panic attacks he was able to collaborate with Alex Johnson who developed the product to produce a product that is something different. This product was born out of a frustration with the services that are currently provided by local councils. There is a growing need for support with mental health and anxiety, but with demand high the time it takes to receive valuable help and support, in some cases can come a little too late. This product is different and I appreciate the principles that it is built on. Its success however is in the user, and its effectiveness to reduce the stress and anxiety. It is a sleek design but I worry that this is not entirely effective alone, there also needs to be sufficient guidance and support to go with the product.
SWOT: Telfer and Johnson have developed a product that they believe helps support with anxiety, my scepticism on this project is that it just becomes another tool or thing that we use for a short period of time and then discard. I believe that building meaningful coping strategies are the best way in which we are able to deal with stresses and anxiety. The Strengths of this project lies within the individuality of their approach, their understanding of the problem and how simple focus techniques can help support a user come out of a panic attack. There are opportunities for this project to be explored in a range of outcomes but I believe that there should be essential and meaningful support that goes along with this product.
The above article is interesting as it suggests that city dwellers are 40% more likely to experience mental health issues than someone living in rural areas. I imagine that this is due to the nature of a city, fast paced, lots of expectations to live up to. Financial concerns could also be a factor within this statistic. Thinking back at my time in London I can see how these statistics add up. The pressure of my working environment to be the best and not to be seen as struggling, no matter the costs. There is certainly a more relaxed attitude to work life where I am now in Cornwall. Sometimes at the detriment to the establishment. This is not to suggest that rural living is any more difficult or easy, I believe that it is environmental pressures that exist within cities that add to the stress and anxiety.
I had started to see more and more articles and help advice online in this past week. I have also been listening to a range of podcasts that explore health and wellbeing. The impact of screen time on our health can be damaging to our attention and self worth, if we are not being constructive with how we use platforms such as social media.
Brief Analysis: The brief, set by Creative Conscience asks creatives to explore the stigmas and troubles of mental health issues. It seeks to use own experience as a springboard into a positive outcome that should focus on the optimistic and empowering. The project should be all inclusive and be accessible to all.
Initial thoughts My initial thoughts have been around my current work, of recent I experienced a growing number of young adults suffering with mental health issues. This can be caused by stress, peer pressure, school pressure. The struggles of hormones and teenage life and the overwhelming self doubt that individuals place on-themselves. I wish to work with the school and identify a focus group that can aid my research and focus this project.
Pixels and Serifs. 