Mindworks

London Design Festival; ‘Emergence’ at LCC: Sept/Oct 2019 #5

Mindworks is an online collection of design around the theme of mental health and well-being, produced by students and staff across UAL, including work from the GMD course: https://www.mindworksual.com/

This new archive resource provides reflection and analysis, promotes positive understanding and counteracts stigma. It is intended as a peer support tool for students and also offers an opportunity for UAL staff and mental health professionals to gain insights into lived experience.

The initiative was originated and developed by former GMD Senior Lecturer, Penny Hilton, and launched at the Emergence event at LCC. GMD student, Lydia Gerakaki, designed the identity, website and display as part of her year in industry (Diploma in Professional Studies). Lydia reflects on her experience below:

Overall, the experience of working on the Mindwork’s display for the Emergence Show was very strange in a special way. I hadn’t done anything like that before and so having to work with technicians, installation staff, the Dean of Design and the people responsible for the general curation of the exhibition was a unique experience. At the same time, it felt quite intense mainly due to the technical aspect of it; large scale poster printing and installing the necessary AV requirements for the website to be displayed and available for navigation by the viewers.

In terms of the design, what I find makes the project stand out is the tone of voice. Instead of choosing the sombre, almost medical approach often associated with such issues, we selected bold and bright colours – yellow, turquoise and orange – which promote the joyous, heartwarming side of this project. The logo design is based on the marriage of art and mental health and combines the brain illustration with a watercolour texture and distinctive typography. Last, but certainly not least, the look of the website follows a symmetrical, Instagram-like grid, in order to minimise the noise and create a user-friendly environment, uncomplicated and easy to navigate.

I am really excited to watch the content of the archive grow, I hope that many students will be involved, either by referencing it as a useful source when dealing with mental health or as points of reference for more fascinating projects which tackle this matter.

More by Lydia Gerakaki: http://www.diplomainprofessionalstudies.com/blog/always-be-the-best-version-of-yourself