Chih Jung Wu
Mental Health Matters
Prompt: Designers are influencers and agents of social and cultural change. Design can bring awareness to a social issue, or sometimes design can completely solve a problem. Good design is based on thorough research and understanding a problem deeply. In both studio and seminar, Bridges 3, 4, and 5 will involve an in-depth exploration of a research topic. The topic will be your choice, but it must correspond to one of the three class themes.
Integrative Studio
Integrative Seminar
My research topic is about reasons why middle and old age people in Taiwan avoid addressing the issue of mental health. I believe it is due to the pressure of being perfect and “normal” to fit into high expectations. For my Bridge 4, I plan to film a short video campaign that calls for the importance of admitting mental illness. The video/s will be focusing on the design and form of the top I made in Bridge 1 since this project was about dealing with mental illness too. I will be voicing over, talking about the difficulties I struggle with mental health issues, to tie up with the research topic. Also, I will make posters out of the scenes in the video and photoshop them onto a store window or other organizations concerning mental health here in Taiwan.
Video 1: “Occasionally, in the inconspicuous corner”. When we walk past each other on the streets, it’s easy to notice if someone is sick. But mental problems are not visible. In the inconspicuous corner, maybe someone we know or love is bothered by his or her mind.
Video 2: “The box, contain it no longer” Once the anger, confusion, sadness are too strong to contain. They leak from the mind and appear as symptoms. This is when patients really need their family and friends’ help.
Video 3: “It overflows, drowning her with it” Although fighting with one’s own emotions and perception is hard, there is help. The mental patients should understand that they are not alone; there are medicines and government-approved clinics that can help them get through their fights.