Aurora’s Graphic Design Services for The Inquiring Mind Youth Program

Our client

The Mental Health Commission, a Canadian non-profit organization, promotes mental health and provides guidance to those suffering from mental illnesses. The Inquiring Mind Youth program is a targeted initiative run by the Mental Health Commission to help young people develop and maintain a comfortable relationship with mental healthcare.

The challenge

The Mental Health Commission recognized a growing need for youth-focused mental health support. The challenge they faced was how to help young people overcome the social stigma and fear they feel around sharing their very personal mental health struggles. The Inquiring Mind Youth program was created to educate and encourage Canadian youth to seek help if they are struggling with mental health issues.

Aurora was engaged for creative and art direction to create interactive, design forward material that appealed to the young demographic.

Creative Direction

Aurora worked closely with the Mental Health Commission on a creative approach to engaging youth, while ensuring the content was informative and easy to understand. Comprehensive research, which included focus group testing, was conducted to ensure the art resonated with Canadian youth. This research was crucial to guide the art direction and the design of the program.

Art Direction

Based on the research findings, Aurora created designs that portrayed the issues and solutions in a realistic and relatable manner. The graphics and illustrations were filled with bright colors, cartoon-like images, and pictures of young people. The designs were tailored to appeal to Canadian youth and resonate with their everyday experiences.

The Inquiring Mind Youth Program Course Material

Aurora implemented the results from the focus group to create the course material that included:

  • An engaging and interactive workbook that would help youth understand the concepts in a fun and inviting way.
  • A PowerPoint presentation to support facilitators and ensure that they could deliver the course effectively.
  • A facilitator guide that provided step-by-step instructions on how to use the course material to deliver successful workshops.

The program was created in both French and English, which required Aurora to adapt the design elements to each format based on the language.

Ultimately, Aurora played a critical role in making the program engaging, effective, and targeted towards Canadian youth.

Thanks to the collaboration between the Mental Health Commission and Aurora, the Inquiring Mind Youth program is a huge success. The program has equipped Canadian youth with the skills they need to recognize mental health challenges, access help and ultimately to know that it’s entirely okay to not be okay. The program course material has been effectively administered to thousands of youth across Canada.