EASE
Mental Health Intiative
Project Type
Student Project
Brand Identity Design, Logo Design, Web Design
Tools Used
Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign
This 10 week long project for a Message Campaign Design course challenged students to choose a socio-political issue and create a non-profit organization with creative solutions. Students will learn how to build their research, develop an identity across print and digital media, refine their messaging and produce a social responsibility campaign. Ease is a mental health nonprofit dedicated to making mental health services more accessible, easier to navigate, and less intimidating.
BRAND IDENTITY
Mission Statement
Choosing to take the steps to get better is hard. Ease is dedicated to making mental health services more accessible, easier to navigate, and less intimidating. Our goal is to normalize and destigmatize therapy and create clearer pathways for young people to address the things they struggle with rather than dismiss them.
Photo by Alex Green
RESEARCH
Target audience
Mental health illnesses do not discriminate. Everyone has their personal struggles that are lifelong journeys to battle. Ease is dedicated to helping any one in need, but especially caters to making mental health and self help services more accessible and accepted for college students and young professionals (age 18-25) of all genders and races who don't have the bandwidth to cope with limited to no support.
Pain Points
Through rigorous quantitative research and UX interviews, it was found that the biggest pain points were in accessibility. Not only was money a big restriction, but a lack of clear guidance or an easy access point into the system. Most often, one would attempt to seek help and hesitate or give up due to the consistent inconveniences that come with the process. There is a big opportunity to address this significant gap in accommodation for mental wellness equity and create a more streamlined solution.
Photo by Shvets Production
Photo by Cottonbro Studio
Photo by Photo by Samson Katt
RESEARCH
Messaging
Getting the mental health help you need shouldn’t be a privilege, everyone deserves support.
We need to eliminate obstacles that prevent people from seeking help.
We are facing a mental health crisis.
Let's face the facts:
19.86% of adults are experiencing a mental illness. Equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans.
-
4.91% are experiencing a severe mental illness.
-
Over half (56%) of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment. (2022)
-
over 27 million individuals in the US
-
Almost a quarter (24.7%) of all adults with a mental illness reported that they were not able to receive the treatment they needed.
(Mental Health America: Adult Data 2022)
Barriers
Barriers that prevent people from receiving treatment:
-
Financial burden
-
Therapy costs of an average session can be anywhere from $75 to $200
-
Not the most accessible service
-
Some people are uninsured
-
-
Plenty of people put off seeking treatment or try to ignore symptoms because mental health is often easier to brush off as not urgent. The mere thought of going through the long process seems overwhelming, so we dismiss it.
-
“We feel like there's a hierarchy of pain, and if our problem doesn't feel big enough, we wait until we're basically having the equivalent of an emotional heart attack before somebody will make that call," - Lori Gottlieb Psychotherapist
-
-
The fear of being stigmatized can keep us from seeking treatment.
-
Transportation, internet/device access
-
Lack of clarity and support in navigating the healthcare system
-
Shortfall in psychiatrists, and an overall undersized mental health workforce.
-
Finding the right specialized treatment
-
Disconnect between primary care systems and behavioral health systems.
-
Solutions
Creating a one-stop platform that can connect people to resources that meet their individual needs will streamline the process.
-
The procrastination in the process of researching and scheduling that first appointment can be an emotional burden on its own and very intimidating. Providing onbaording consultations for new users allows for that personal care that is missing in existing organizations.
-
The fear of being stigmatized can keep us from seeking treatment, so educating the populations aids in serving them
-
Our attitudes about mental health likely come from family, friends, society at large, the media — and even our own inner voices. Having new information and options can help individuals feel better supported in their journey to mental wellness.
-
Make other options more available and known.
-
Slide Scale services (low- to no-cost therapy with a therapist in training, at a local clinic, hospital, or university)
-
“You probably have more supervision than a private-practice clinician does, because when you're training, you have several sessions a week of supervision, so your case gets a lot of attention when you're in a clinic." -Lori Gottlieb, Psychotherapist
-
-
Group therapy
-
Group therapy typically costs about a third of the price compared to an individual session, and there you can share your story, hear from others dealing with similar issues, receive advice from a professional, and avoid the added stress of cost
-
BRAND IDENTITY
Brand identity
This nonprofit organization is dedicated to creating accessible pathways for young adults struggling with their mental health to follow in seeking professional guidance. We work to rebuild trust in those who feel hopeless and help them feel empowered to start the process and prioritize their mental wellbeing. The brand embodies a sense of comfort emphasized by the embracing imagery throughout the brand.
