CASE
STUDY
With the freedom to choose any topic that spreads awareness, what would you choose
As an assignment, we were given the freedom to choose any topic that spreads awareness. The idea was to create a triptych, connecting three artboards together while upholding the same theme and impact.
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Blast from the past
When I first began design, whenever I was given the freedom to choose my own topic, I always related it to mental health in some way. I wanted to bring back an old artwork and bring it back to life in a new style and way. Instead of being a solo piece, it now stood as a triptych. I decided I wanted to vocalize the importance of mental health within this project. Students were given a month to complete this project and we required hand drawing the images using a fine tip pen, and scanning them onto Adobe Illustrator. Any editing or adding was required to be done on Illustrator post production.
The more I looked at this project, the more I wanted to build off on different characters showcasing them in a way that allows others to understand. But in order to do so, they needed to really take the time to look at the details. Mental health isn't just black and white, it's complicated and messy, like quick sketches, and its difficult to understand unless you care enough to really listen.
The initial work
To understand the triptych, let's take a look into the background of the original work.
My original works as a designer was based on surrealism, as I idolized the works of the crazy, yet intriguing compositions. I paired this up with an analogy that a counselor once told me when I was having difficulties in the past. I was told that I was being overwhelmed constantly, and my thoughts were just like a cup overflowing. Whenever I felt like I was at the brim, I needed to take a step back so I don't overflow.
This began the overflowing cup head illustration.
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When Ideas Align
Analogies make Great Artwork
I later paired this up with something else I was told. Whenever we overthink, its like rearranging furniture. Even if things are fine, we keep moving the furniture around and around again in the living room until we feel that everything is alright. Sometimes we just need to be the interior designers to our feelings.
The Goal
"Lightheaded,""Rearranging Furniture," and "The Reflection of Numbers," are illustrations that draw the viewer into living spaces, in which struggles of mental health causes one to feel disconnected from their mind, or their home, a space that is meant to be safe.
Early Sketches
The original work of "I am not okay," using pen as the main medium paired with ink and colored pencil.
A new era
A Personal Touch
With this previous work in mind, I decided to build off of this work by following the same theme and style. With depression being the main theme in the first artwork, I chose others that I, or others around me related to. With a theme personal to me, I felt that this would be more meaningful and impactful.
Panic Attacks and Eating disorders were selected as the other two artworks for the triptychs.
Through these artworks, I wanted to showcase the feeling in an abstract way, where the characters had their heads as objects and interacting with these objects injunction to their environment.
Connection to surrealism
From thoughts to paper...to Ilustrator
Trust the process...
Not a usual way I would compose an artwork, but the requirement allowed us to sketch the artwork onto tracing sheets and upload them onto Adobe Illustrator. Once there, we had to use image trace and edit the images into pen-like strokes.
Because of the details on the characters and their environment, I had to draw a lot of components separately and compose them together later on once they were all uploaded and edited on Illustrator.
Final Endpoint
The idea of mental health being abstracted into a surrealistic world of a house party hits close to me personally. While being able to represent different forms of mental health of depression, panic attacks, and eating disorders, I hope that it opens others eyes more.
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