“Under Pressure” is no longer just a song, but has become more like a lifestyle of an entire generation. How many times have we thought we were capable of multitasking only to be proven wrong at the moment of failure?

What makes us feel relaxed and how can we regain our lost focus? And how can we as designers deal with this information? Questions, facts and answers about the bridge between design and psychology are the core components of this bachelor's thesis.

In addition, the following research question was addressed: “To what extent does design have an influence on people's mental health and how can the knowledge gained be used to reduce everyday burdens such as stress or concentration disorders?”

Theoretical part of the bachelor thesis 2019 // Communication Design // “Development of an interactive guide series to improve mental health - using the example topics of stress and concentration disorders” // 383 pages // 170mm x 240mm // Authors: Michelle Le Tran and Alicia Taisler

Due to the fact that the mental health of many people in today's fast-paced society suffers massively from the multiple stresses & ever-increasing pressure, the idea of developing a guidebook that deals with people's everyday stresses was born.

While well-intentioned advice and intensive programs can be helpful to some extent in solving everyday stresses, they can also have the opposite effect. Instead of achieving the desired effect, in the worst case they can actually exacerbate the problem.

A fundamental purpose of this guidebook series is to make a meaningful contribution to improving the mental health of our society and to counteract the increasing pressure to perform. The aim is also to gently encourage people who feel strongly affected by the respective stress to actively allow themselves more time for themselves and their individual needs. This is intended to create the basis for helping people to help themselves.

With “Send Health!” (the guidebook series so far consists of the first two volumes (Volume No.1 on the topic of stress, Volume No.2 on the topic of concentration disorders), each of which focuses on one main topic.

As each person reacts individually to stress, therefore there is no universal solution to the problem existing, the focus of this guide is particularly on the aspect of individual problem solving. The reader is offered various methods for overcoming problems, all of which can be integrated into everyday life. In addition, the reader is provided with sufficient information on the respective topic in order to better understand how the body or brain react in stressful situations.

Aside from useful information and effective methods for dealing with stress, the main focus of the guide is on interactivity. The prototype of an app was also developed to accompany this.

Interactive guide series to improve mental health // Practice part of the bachelor thesis 2019 // Communication Design course // 105 pages // 160mm x 210mm // Design, illustration and text: Michelle Le Tran and Alicia Taisler

“Saltwater in my hair and on my skin” is so to speak a collection of an analogue remnant plate and contains analog photographic content as well as lyrical texts that portray the mental and visual moods of a balmy summer in the Mediterranean region between prickly pears, the smell of sunscreen and black sand beaches.

Work in Progress …

Design of the cover // Collection of analog photographic works in black and white accompanied by lyrical texts // approx. 150 pages planned // 172mm x 245mm