What Is Depression?
Is a book that investigates how simple graphical forms can be used to communicate a complex idea. It explores the principles and elements of design and how they can be abstracted to illustrate emotions and experiments with pushing the boundaries of what educational book pages can look like.
Prompt
Mental health is a complex subject matter that is frequently overlooked or misunderstood within our society.
Problem
How do you explain depression to someone who has never experienced it before or does not know what it is?
Solution
The creation of a book that utilizes simple graphics and typography to help the reader better understand depression.
It is estimated that more than 264 million people around the world suffer from depression.
Selecting A Topic
The intention is that the design solution explored within this thesis project could be applied to any complicated topic. I chose to focus on depression because it is such a complex disorder filled with feeling and emotion. It is an extremely important and relevant subject matter that needs to be educated on, so it was the perfect subject to represent within my design.
Design Process
The book page designs were developed through a process of creation and exploration. Each spread began by sketching a variety of ideas which were then made digitally. Those design concepts were taken and pushed further to test how the layout and forms could express the emotions within the page. The final designs chosen for the book were the best representations for each symptom.
Objective
By communicating with individuals at an earlier age and educating them on depression they will be able to recognize it within their own life and seek help if they are ever affected. With a clearer understanding of the disorder readers will have more empathy towards people who have depression.
Color Scheme
In order to better understand how color could be employed within my designs I did research into color psychology. I found that there were a few specific colors that were repeated when examining the feelings that are commonly associated with depression. These are the colors that I selected for my color scheme to help represent the symptoms of depression depicted within the book.
How can simple graphical forms be used to communicate a complex idea?
Solution
Depression is often misunderstood because it is an invisible illness. Someone affected by depression could appear perfectly fine on the outside while they suffer greatly on the inside. The book reflects this idea in that although the designs may appear simple, the forms on the page possess a deeper significance within. Each page in the book contains simple visuals and typography that translate those deeper meanings associated with depression.
