How we used people-centric design to encourage open and compassionate mental health conversations within the NUS community
Through creative consultancy and design support, we worked with the National University of Singapore (NUS) on their mental health awareness campaign, #AreuOK.
The mission
Through creative consultancy and design support, we worked with the National University of Singapore Health & Wellbeing team (NUS HWB) on their mental health awareness campaign, (kind)mind (previously #AreuOK). As the campaign name suggests, this initiative aims to establish NUS as a safe space where mental health discussions are encouraged and members of their community are supported in their journey to psychological wellbeing. After a comprehensive foundational workshop with the NUS HWB team, we understood that we needed to create a visual brand identity that would be inclusive and relevant, so that this initiative would be able to engage more people and build more awareness around mental wellbeing.
The Brain Juice approach
In developing our brand guide and design approach, we had to deeply consider how the logo, typography, colours and custom illustrations could help to convey the campaign's key messages:
- We aim to destigmatise mental health conditions in the NUS community with and through kindness, trust and empathy.
- We value personal growth and development, by building resilience, encouraging self-mastery, and supporting those who seek help.
- Through an actionable and research-backed framework, we are creating an open-source toolkit to enhance mental health awareness and management.
Tone of Voice
In order to further strengthen our messaging, we defined a tone of voice that allows a safe space where mental wellbeing discussions are encouraged.
- Empathetic & Empowering: we want to empower everyone in the NUS community and we also care deeply about the individual struggles of each and every member.
- Progressive & Informative: whatever we put out to the community, is engaging and fun but more importantly, it is accurate, verifiable and helpful for the betterment of their mental health.
Campaign Name
Inspired by the values of kindness, trust and empathy, we rebranded the campaign name to (kind)mind with the concept: "To shine light and give hope to others — Ready to face challenges; Showing courage to seek help."
Logo
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Key Visuals
“Every human is unique. Everyone is on their own wellbeing journey. Each person has a different way of taking care of their mental health.” Deeply rooted in the key messages, this was the concept that we wanted people to see and feel from the key visual that we designed for the campaign. We conceptualised and created visuals across three pillars, while prominently displaying elements situated within the NUS context. The three pillars are: Your feelings are VALID, We are only HUMAN, Self-care is NOT SELFISH.
Notice how the skin tone of our characters is beyond just the usual colours, how their bodies are irregularly shaped, and how there is a mix of different representations for age, gender, and culture, to remind us to embrace diversity and respect inclusivity. The different scenes represent people’s varied walks of life and how the importance of mental wellbeing and social support create a harmonious balance.
The most unique aspect, and definitely, our favourite illustration for this campaign rebrand is LiNUS - your friendly NUS HWB emotional support lion always ready to care. LiNUS is a unifying symbol of strength for yourself and others, resilience to overcome challenges, and courage to ask for help.
To check out how these visuals brought the campaign to life, visit NUS’ (kind)mind microsite here: https://nus.edu.sg/hwb/kindmind2023/
Here are the refreshed campaign visuals for (kind)mind 2023:
Our role
Our impact
Photo gallery
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mind_feelings%252520pillar.png)
mind_human%252520pillar.png)
mind_self-care%252520pillar.png)
mind_linus.png)
mind_characters.png)
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