As I am passionate about mental health and have personal experience in using various resources to improve my own mental health, I wanted to spend a semester diving deeper into the subject matter and finding the areas in which services, tools, or the way in which the subject matter is spoken of can be improved. I specifically looked into adolescent mental health as I had previously come across resources that posed concerns for teen’s mental health when workin on the project, Kith & Kin, in 2018. Also, since I knew from experience that many colleges offer on-campus counseling services, I was curious what was offered to high school students. As I took a deeper dive and conducted research into mental health, I did in fact discover a plethora of articles, journals, and studies related to teen anxiety and depression, many of which come to the conclusion that today’s teens (in America) are more anxious and at greater risk of depression than previous generations were (when they were teens). While these resources have varying opinions on why teens are more anxious, the more important lesson here is that mental health is clearly an issue among teens, now more than ever, and needs to be addressed.

However, with the vast number of mental health mobile apps, organizations and online resources that are available for use, I concluded that it may not be an issue of resources necessarily but rather an issue of stigma and a need for a streamlined message.

Therefore, I came up with the idea to create a toolkit of assets that are adaptable for any institution and a variety of environments. I imagine institutions, such as schools or camps, using the toolkit to improve communication between adults and teens, encourage conversations about mental health, and create an environment of open communication.

I designed the poster campaign, shown here, as a small study in the aesthetic and functionality of the toolkit. I envision the toolkit eventually including a takeaway/handout, group activities, shareable content, and experimental design. To reflect the intention of the toolkit being adaptable, I strove to create a design that allowed for modularity. I chose the format of a poster as it can be arranged to fit within any space, whether the institution has spaces that can fit only one poster or 5+ to create a larger, billboard or mural-like installation. I chose the messaging “We Are Here” as it allowed for interchangeable secondary messaging (i.e. “For You,” “To Talk,” etc.). In summation, the campaign consists of a series of 6 posters (6 different designs) with interchangeable color and text, which ultimately allows for there to be 12+ possible poster designs and more opportunity to mix and match however the user so chooses. The call to action (i.e. body copy) as well as the logo are placeholders and can be easily changed by the user as they see fit.

I also created a few examples of how the campaign can be carried into social media.