Ben Jackson

The website again takes all the information and visuals you’ve seen on everything so far and puts it all in one place. So there’s a page for the guidelines, a page for the background and science, and a page which is all about sphere. This is the guidelines page which describes the guidelines and what they are, as well as outlining them as you can see on the right with the 10 of the guidelines which are based on aims.

I created some possible examples of how the website could look, making use of the visual identity.

A place where all the guidelines, background and research behing the guidelines, and anything about the campaign itslef can be viewed digitally , with links to socials and all of the partners involved in the Sphere project.

Final Design

Booklet

I then moved on and made a booklet and leaflet which can both be given to the professionals which runs through the guidelines and all the accompanying information. It was important that both the booklet and leaflet needed to be clear and concise, conveying all the relevant information to the viewer, using the same visual identity that has been used thus far.

I split the guidelines into 3 parts, timings, aims and environment with one section on each page on each page of the booklet, just to split up the amount of information on each page so it isn’t too much. The guidelines also have the icons next to them, so it could really be used as a key as well, if they see the icons on the social media or on a poster they know what guideline it’s aimed at.

I also wanted to implement some information design into it, other than the icons. There wasn’t too many facts and figures to be communicated, so any information design came in the form of data visualisation, using the visual language to present information to the viewer in an interesting way.

Much of the typography, especially for the headings for eat section of the guidelines were put into certain shapes to give them a sense of movement, to go along with the idea of physical activity.

Final Design

A booklet to be given to anyone looking to implement the gudielines. Using the visual language, colour scheme, typographic features etc, it gives a sense of the overall project. With descriptions of the metaphor and how the guidelines can help someone, as well as the guidelines themselves, split into 3 sections, timings, aims and enrionment. The booklet also contains some data visualisation of some of the statistic around how many people suffer with mental health disorders accross Europe.

Leaflet

Similar to the booklet, a 5 fold leaflet which gives all immediate information on one document. The guidelines, facts about psychiatric disorders and the visual style.

Again, everything relevant within the booklet such as the guidelines, some background information, and the visual language is all within the leaflet just in a much more condensed way.

Final Design

I started designing some banners making use of the visual identity to get a sense of how they could be used to explain the metaphor and why the guidelines can help, followed by some more promotional examples. I looked at how the colour palette and the different typefaces could be used and which is more effective in terms of communicating the message.

I think using both the yellow and grey both work interchangeably and could be useful to ensure a good pace within the project, however I think the typeface Le Murmure should be used for the main messages on banners and posters, its much more playful and eye-catching.

Overall the designs showed a clear sense of progression from earlier posters and showed how the visual identity can be applied to different touchpoint within the campaign, but I don’t think any of the posters currently show enough of the information needing to be communicated to the audience.

I discussed in an earlier feedback session that using a billboard or poster series might be a better way of creating print media. It allows me to get more information onto one billboard or poster series instead of just a single poster with one piece of information.

The most important part for me was to ensure there was some sort of text to describe what the point of the guidelines was, alongside a visual representation of this.

Final Design 1

I think it was important to tell the story of the campaign, this is how it may feel to have a mental health disorder, and this is how the guidelines can help, so they can help you take control through the use of physical activity. It explains the metaphor but also gives the target audience a sense of what they’re doing and the good it can do. Again I used the balls with lots on one side and only one on the other to demonstrate the idea of taking control.

I used the visual style of the project, alongside bold photography of sports courts and pitches which stand out and contrast nicely with the colour scheme. The client made it clear that they didn’t want images of professional athletes in it, so I thought using images which allude to sport and activity works well and creates some strong visuals.

Final Design 2

Following on from the previous poster series which looks at the reasoning for the guidelines and how they can help, I wanted to demonstrate the guidelines themselves, and talk about them individually and what the stand for. It’s a strong way to get the guideline icons and descriptions across the the audience and give them a sense of what the Sphere guidelines really stand for. 

I made icons for each of the guidelines because I think as you can see on this mockup, the guidelines can work well by themselves with a key or the description underneath, it stops everything being too overwhelmed with information. It could also be just all the icons and their accompanying guidelines underneath as a poster or infographic, but this gives the sense of how these icons can work.

From much of my research into information design, as well as research into contemporary design, it became apparent that many campaigns use iconography as their information design systems in order to process a lot of information at once without overwhelming the viewer with too much text.

The usage of image like icons increases engagement to 94% compared to text alone whilst improve retention by 42% and allows humans to process information 60% faster. These icons will allow users to grasp the information and hopefully increase how much they retain.

It was clear from the offset that information design was needed within the campaign due to the amount of information needing to be conveyed, however the guidelines aren’t saturated with facts and figures, therefor it would be hard to design any sort of infographic using numbers and statistics. Instead, I went down the route of using iconography to narrate the guidelines.

The guidelines are all fairly wordy, so fitting them all into a single set of icons makes it much easier not only to fit them all onto a single page, but also to retain the information and undertsand it. The icons will allow the users to grasp the information being given to them easier than readin a full page of 19 guidelines. 

Although all the icons and guidelines can be added onto a single page to give all the information, sometimes the icons could be used by themselves on posters or any other media, with the page above as a key.

As I said before, the idea stemmed from my research, I was looking into mental health disorders and background research into it, and in particular I was looking at how some people might feel when they have a mental health disorder and the way they describe it. I found a variety of different descriptions all relating to this feeling of feeling slightly overwhelmed. I also spoke to a few friends who I know have been through some things in the past or are still going through things now, and one of them really stood out to me. He said “it feels like I have 1,000,000 balls bouncing around in my head” and sometimes I can’t even think or feel. He said he wishes that he could grab them and stop them and take control of it.

First off I just wanted to use this metaphor of the balls bouncing and the feeling of being overwhelmed, but the more I though about the feedback from the previous design, I wanted to add a tagline which worked alongside that idea and looked to explain it.

Take Control

Whilst describing to me the feelings inside his head, the idea of ‘taking control’ of it was something he expressed, and to me this was the perfect description of what the guidelines were there to do, to help anyone suffering with a psychiatric disorder to take control of it.

First off, I think the campaign needed some sort of logo or marque, something which identifies it as being part of the project, to go alongside ‘Take Control’ and whilst the ideas of the balls was obviously in my head from the start, having a marque which is based around that concept might be too much with the rest of the visual language also being all about that.

I looked back on some of my research, as well as ideation and the idea of using icons came up a lot, and the idea of using an icon for the guidelines was also mentioned, so I thought using a shape with 19 points to represent each of the guidelines would be something very simple which could work for that.

Whilst describing to me the feelings inside his head, the idea of ‘taking control’ of it was something he expressed, and to me this was the perfect description of what the guidelines were there to do, to help anyone suffering with a psychiatric disorder to take control of it.

I also discussed that I don’t think using too many colours works, that paired with photography and a lot of information is a bit much, I wanted to focus more on a single colour alongside black and white. I looked at a few different colours which are all bright and stand out enough, but not too in your face.

Yellow was the one which stood out to me the most overall, although very cliche it is a very warm colour and alludes to mental health and similar themes quite nicely so I think it works well.

I also looked at a few type variations. I wanted to keep the typeface on the left, right grotesk as a base typeface, to use for text and some headings as its more functional in terms of legibility. Its a bold typeface but also feels very approachable which is something which is important for this brief. However, I wanted another typeface alongside it, one which could take the reigns in terms of using it for the main slogan, or main headings. ‘Misto’ in the middle and ‘Le Murmure’ on the right, both beautiful, bold typeface which are both very playful in their design, however I think the design of Le Murmure (right) seems to flow from letter to letter and to me it suggests movement through its expressive features.

The Visual Identity

The star shapes correlate with the guidelines themselves and summarise them in a visual, iconography sense. Each line within the star represents a guideline, a way of incorporating the guidelines into every piece of design within the campaign, so that they remain the forefront of what is being communicated. 

The colour is bold and striking but also quite soft in its appeal, it implies warmth and works within the mental health field. Its also suggestive of sport campaigns, using the single bright colour. I think the yellow itself alongside photography has enough connotations with happiness and pleasure to allude to mental health. It’s bold and stand out, but not too much.

The typefaces are very bold and striking, without being overwhelming and too in your face. They are both legible and easy to read/understand. Le Murmure is a typeface which makes use of flowy features which create a rythm within words which seem to glide from letter to letter. It’s rhythm, to me, alludes to movement and activity and therefor alongside being a stand-out and bold typeface to draw in the reader, it also has connotations with sport and physical activity through its movement-like structure.

The balls bouncing, as stated previously, was an integral part of the visual identity when it came to describing the metaphor and story of the campaign, as well as describing how the guidelines can help someone suffering with a mental health disorder. The balls symbolise the chaos and overwhelming thoughts which could be present in someones head. 

Potential Outcomes

Posters/Banners

Poster Series

Booklet

Leaflet

Website

Social Media

After creating 3 different concepts, it was clear the strongest was the first, using metaphor to illustrate and create the visual language for the design. I wanted to follow on from the idea of the balls being overwhelming, however I didn’t think the initial design was working to deliver the message I wanted to put across.

• It needed much more of an overwhelming feel than the initial concept idea – more balls? or bigger balls?
• Maybe experimentation with some different colours, some softer colours steering clear of the neon, might be more aimed at the mental health target.
• How might work across different media, poster, booklets etc.

Looking at the general visual language, colours, styles, how the typography might work on the page, how the balls will interact with the page and inform the design.

• Black definitely doesn’t work, far too dark for both mental health and sport design.
• The balls on the second poster which are more random works much better, it has a better sense of movement and motion and is much less uniform, the size of the balls also works better and feels more ‘overwhelming’.
• Split posters work well, I like the colours, particularly yellow, but I think too many colours starts to look too soft and ‘nice’ and takes some of the focus away from the sport. As I found out in my research using only one colour is often the way in sports branding and maybe that might work?
• Still needs more of a ‘story’ (this is how someone with a mental health disorder might feel, this is how the guidelines might help)

I wanted to see how the visuals developed in the posters could be used in some different ways, creating more simple visuals to convey information. I also looked at the addition of photography alongside strong graphic visuals.

• Like the idea of the smaller squares, allows more information to be conveyed, could be useful when it comes to communicating the guidelines? Doing a poster series/billboard instead of individual posters.
• Photography works well but there might be too many colours going on with the photography, again thinking about toning it down to just one or two colours to keep it more simple and not overcomplicate it.
• Again, still needs more of a ‘story’.

How might the guidelines be put across within a booklet in this certain style, taking the same designs from the posters and adding it to a booklet, with a smaller foldout page inside containing the guidelines or information.

• Only a first, simple draft but I just think it’s boring. There needs to be more on the pages themselves but I’m worried that adding too much information with pages which are already quite loud with visual language and colours won’t work.
• Fold out page doesn’t work and isn’t an interesting enough way of conveying the information of the guidelines, maybe making use of the numbers more might work? Or looking further down the route of icons.

Feedback and Take Aways

It’s strong progress from the initial idea and I definitely think the sense of being overwhelmed and taken over is stronger in this development than it was in the first draft, but I still think there’s a long way to go in terms of visual language itself.

• Feedback was that they agreed that a more simple colour pallet of maybe just white black and a bright colour could work, I suggested yellow or red or something along those lines and they agreed.
• Agreed that it needs a stronger sense of a story, like I said, about what the problem is and how the guidelines can help.
• Needs a stronger sense of the guidelines, so more of the posters need to contain information about the guidelines. The star from my 3rd concept springs to mind, its a way to get the guidelines more involved in all of the designs.
• Needs more information design, or just more interesting data visualisation. Within the brief there isn’t a whole lot of facts and figures, its mostly longer statements, like the guidelines themselves, so finding a way to visualise these using the style will be important. Again maybe the use of icons will really help.

Before starting to create the final visual language and decide on exact colours, typefaces, specific visuals etc I created 3 possible concepts to be discussed during our lecture with Paul. All of them were purely conceptual and I knew the visuals were going to be developed from the starting point, but I wanted to get initial ideas onto paper to give them initial visuals and in order to get feedback from Paul and the rest of my group.

Concept 1

The idea stemmed from my research, I was looking into mental health disorders and background research into it, and in particular I was looking at how some people might feel when they have a mental health disorder and the way they describe it. I found a variety of different descriptions all relating to this feeling of feeling slightly overwhelmed. I also spoke to a few friends who I know have been through some things in the past or are still going through things now, and one of them really stood out to me. He said “it feels like I have 1,000,000 balls bouncing around in my head” and sometimes I can’t even think or feel. He said he wishes that he could grab them and stop them and take control of it. This together with the idea from my research about feeling overwhelmed formed this first idea, making use of shapes and the ‘balls’ mentioned above to create a sense of being overwhelmed.

I used bright colours and tried to use some photography, as well as bold, standout typefaces, taking influence from my research.

I think the idea of using a metaphor which informs the visuals and alludes to mental health as well as physical activity could be really successful, but it needs to feel more overwhelming, and it needs to show how the guidelines can help that feeling of being overwhelmed.

Concept 2

The next concept was all about the idea of many mental health disorders being hidden and not widely known about. The idea was to use this idea of the mental disorders having a light shone on them. Again I used some bright, pastel colours similar to what is used in a lot of mental health campaigns.

I don’t think the concept works at all in response to the brief. The brief is about raising awareness for the guidelines and explaining them and some of the science behind it, not necessarily raising awareness for the disorders themselves. I also don’t think the colours work overall, especially in term of sport design.

Concept 3

The final idea was purely around the star shape, which was influenced by research into medical campaign designs which in a lot of cases contain iconography. I though about using a star with 19 points, one for every guideline to visualise the guidelines and ensure that they’re on every page within the campaign. It also stops the page becoming overcrowded.

After the previous 2 concepts used block colours, I wanted to try photography in this one to get a feel for how it might look.

Overall I think the idea of using the star icon as a representation of the guidelines is one which could definitely work on the information design front, and could possibly be mixed with another one of the ideas?

Feedback

I took the concepts to the tutorial and got a range of feedback from Paul and my group.

Concept 1

• Idea/metaphor of the balls is interesting and could work, but definitely needs to feel more overwhelming and needs to have some more explanation.
• Could definitely work with bright colours and photography.
• Need to show the idea of being overwhelmed and how the guidelines might help calm this down and help take control.
• ‘Get Up, Get Active’ could be changed to something which goes along better with the metaphor itself.

Concept 2

• Unfortunately nothing of interest, agreed with me that it doesn’t suit the campaign and target audience. It was a good experiment and looked to go down a different route with a different perspective but unfortunately didn’t work.

Concept 3

• Liked the idea of using 19 points for the guidelines and taking influence from some medical campaigns for that, thought it could maybe work nicely alongside the first concept as an additional part, maybe a logo/marque?
• The photography works well and makes it feel professional, but adding a brightly coloured, graphic shape or shapes would really work as well.
• Taking the idea of iconography even further and making one for each guideline? Fits in with the idea of information design and the concept well.

The creative brief, to me, is a document which maps out the most important parts of the brief going forward in creating a design which reaches the goals of the brief. Including an overview of the brief, target audiences, important information to use and the different parts of the design process, as well as other examples of best practice to take influence from.

Client:

Diane Crone/Paul Sellars

DMCrone@cardiffmet.ac.uk

PSellars@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Brief: SPHERE – Sport healing rehabilitation 

Overview: SPHERE is a rehabilitation project aiming to aid people with psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder etc. using physical exercise. The programme looks to achieve this by improving their quality of life, health and wellbeing. The programme is a collective of 7 partners from around Europe, based in Finland, Croatia, England, Wales, Germany and Belgium, and are a combination of organisations and professionals from academia, psychiatric services, local authority sports development and third sector physical activity providers who all informed the SPHERE project through research and their own examples of best practice within their designated field.

Objective: To provide information about the guidelines to use physical exercise to increase mental health to a range of professionals such as physiotherapists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses etc. in order for them to pass this information on within their own practice.

Target Audience: The primary target audience includes a vast range of professionals within medical services such as mental health nurses, physiotherapists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists etc. It’s also important to consider the secondary audience, the patients receiving the guidelines, as although they aren’t the main focal point for the work, they’re ultimately the people gaining from it.

Useful Information:

The main information which needs to be conveyed to the recipients is the 17 guidelines which aim to aid in mental health rehabilitation, these include things like:

• Attendance to the programme is voluntary

• Where possible, training to take place before mid-day

• Activity in groups to aid social integration and social confidence

Creative Process:

•Further research into the brief and surrounding topics

•Design solutions ideation

•Visual identity ideation

•3 design solutions

•Development of direction

•Refinement

•Design proposal presentation

•Final design delivery

Helpful Visuals: Before carrying out too much research into the topic and surrounding research I thought it was important to look into visuals which allude to a variety of different topics which the brief looks into, such as sports, mental health and medicine in order to document some early research into the type of design which will be of interest.