For this project I was asked to create a design or design series that reflected a social, technologic and design trend. This was a TafeSA project that involved delving into creative work that individually expressed a topic that you are proud of. Therefore, I explored how to represent the emotion and feeling of mental health through symbolism.
My first design called “lost” depicts a paper boat in the middle of a colourful and crazy sea. The paper boat captures the feeling of innocence. The paper boat represents innocence through its association with children playing and creating with paper. The boat is also depicted to be heading in no certain direction, this is to depict how there is no clear way out of the crazy vastness of mental health, but you can always stay afloat.
My second design called “overwhelmed” depicts a woman overflowing with a colourful liquid that can be seen oozing out of cracks in her face and out of her eyes. The woman is depicted to be staring at the viewer with a sad and despairing expression, this is to set the serious and unhappy tone of the design. By having the woman staring directly at the viewer, it draws their attention to the design and portrays a sense of authenticity. As the eye is often a method of connecting and seeing the truth. The colourful liquid symbolises what the crazy emotions and effects of mental health could look like overflowing out of someone’s mind. The use of AI to create the colourful patterns in the series add to the unfathomable representation of one’s crazy inner thoughts and emotions. The liquid is depicted to be flowing out so much from the overwhelmed concept, that the poster begins to get taken over by the crazy liquid.
