OUGD505 Brief 2: Drop In Chat Room

Defined Brief 2 of OUGD505:

Branding for a drop in 'chat room' available for all universities. 
This chat room will be available in all universities, where students can volunteer who have some form of background in social care/ good listeners, which students can drop in to unscheduled when they feel overwhelmed. The focus is going to be more on 'having a chat' as opposed to counselling sessions which is often an intimidating topic, from my questionnaire I found that many people found it uncomfortable discussing mental health. The aim is to update the aesthetic of welfare services and make this room as approachable as possible to combat the stigma behind seeking help.

Deliverables: 2 posters, a leaflet and way-finding system.


Responses that unsettled me most highlighted how many people were put off by extended waiting periods (which even at this university is a big issue, despite having the most efficient process of any university I've seen). The reality of many people using recreational drugs and alcohol as a means of escapism instead of discussing their stress/ mental health is alarming, but shouldn't be frowned upon or used as an excuse to not offer them further treatment which many services do confess to. For example on Leeds University website the list of requirements for undertaking their online counselling service (which the link is broken to) you cannot be under the influence which seems contradictory and not realistic of many university students who self medicate as this is the only way they've known. A staggering 82.6% of people who took my questionnaire have turned to this method under stress which says a lot.



The above statistic is similarly alarming, begging the question what can be done to alleviate the stigma around mental health, how can it be somewhat normalised and expressed in a more casual setting? Which got me thinking about how when students are stressed about their work they can come to a drop in session, they can easily access a tutor of sorts to discuss their work, so why can't we have a drop in for mental health? Like a physical health check up you can also go to a drop in clinic so why not for mental health, or better still 'a chat', this removes connotations of  intimidation people associate with discussing mental health.

Aesthetic
In my presentation I did introducing my concepts for this brief I purposely used the outdated typical aesthetic adopted by posters/ leaflets discussing mental health, hence the use of Comic Sans and dark blue shade. The backgrounds were imagery from therapy rooms, with the classic 'therapists chair' and tacky room decor. This was to expose the current state of almost every therapists room I've seen, somewhat depressing in itself that tries to brighten up the place with a garishly bright painting of some sunflowers.



Moving away from this clinical feeling baron room, I want to redesign the aesthetic of welfare services, the running theme will be to update the appearance. Making the room less intimidating to walk into which hopefully will work if it's modernised, welcoming and has a calming atmosphere not a hostile one. This goes also for the poster/ literature surrounding mental health, the visuals featured above are just from an image search for mental health, the classic tedious parts of the brain (mainly all in a dark blue) is an outdated image, a poor representation that we need to move on from.