Communicating mental health through graphic design – Investigating the role of graphic design for the facilitation of communication regarding mental health data

Once seen as a taboo subject, the rise in mental health issues and awareness of mental health issues has seen the subject matter gain more social and medical interest by professionals and the general public. However, for those who suffer with mental health issues, it can often be hard to notice when your change in mood is happening and what might have been causing it until it’s too late and professional help is required.

This multi-disciplinary research project utilises autoethnography and existing literature to explore mental health from the researcher’s perspective, to help initiate further research using a practice-based, research by design approach to explore how graphic design can communicate a state of mental health to an end user.

This research looks at how mental health data can be recorded and re-communicated back to a user to help them define their mood and find ways to help them improve their mental wellbeing. This has been done through designing a participant response task that required
daily recorded analysis of how the user was feeling and the reasons why. This paired with utilising semi-structured exit interviews allows us to gain a better understanding of how the process worked and could be refined.

The research argues that a method in which users can record their mental health data and review their input can look to have a positive effect on identifying a change in mood and understanding why that might have been. This response task informs the user of their
current state of wellbeing, allowing them to review this and encourages them to take action and offers support before their mental health deteriorates.