Anxiety absolutely sucks.
Especially in recent years when so much of our life has been full of unknowns and stressors, it’s so easy
to become completely overwhelmed. When dealing with anxiety, no matter how severe or frequent, one of the most important things to be aware of is that the issue doesn’t need to be tackled alone, and that these feelings are normal and valid to experience.
to become completely overwhelmed. When dealing with anxiety, no matter how severe or frequent, one of the most important things to be aware of is that the issue doesn’t need to be tackled alone, and that these feelings are normal and valid to experience.
For my Senior Year Capstone project, I decided to create a brand that I felt would be very useful and relevant in the current day, and tackles the mental health issues that I knew that both my peers and myself have been dealing with as we entered young adulthood. Anxiety is not something that should be kept inside, so I went into the direction of creating deliverables that allow people to channel their feelings through healthy methods. I want the brand to appeal both to children and to teens / adults who connect with their younger self in order to decompress.
Branding
Mulu is the star of the Cumulus, and serve as a cheerleader for people tackling anxiety. Being just a cute little cloud, he will help guide one through the exercises in the Anxiety Relief Guidebook, and let them know that they don’t have to deal with their feelings alone. With all of the pressures of adulting, falling back and feeling the support of a little cloud guy will hopefully help people smile when they're journaling. I also thought that having a cartoonish mascot would be a nice way to give the brand an identity, and help users reminisce of their often less stressful childhood.
Cumulus Anxiety Relief Guidebook
Example Exercises
Example Exercises
The first component of this project is a guided workbook called the Cumulus Anxiety Relief Guidebook. It consists of 11 different writing exercises that help guide people through deconstructing their negative feelings, as well as highlighting the positive aspects of life. Additionally, they can log in their feelings each day, reflecting on what went well, what didn’t go well, and what their goals are.
Cumulus Anxiety Relief Kit
Mockup
Dielines
Front View
Back View
Open View
The second part of the project is the Cumulus Anxiety Relief Kit. Designed to be easy to store, it has items such as small notebooks, fidget toys, a stress ball, and positive affirmation cards that can help provide
comfort during difficult times.
comfort during difficult times.
The Relief Kit includes a textured stress toy, a small notebook, notecards with phrases of affirmation, a fidget spinner, bubble wrap, gum, tissues, and ear plugs. Pictures of the fully printed out package including a number of the relief items can be seen below, along with a mockup and the dielines used for printing.
Cumulus Mobile App
The brand also comes with a mobile app version for people who prefer to use their phone as opposed to pencil and paper. The app allows users to create an account that tracks all of their journal entries, track their anxiety levels through a calendar, and complete a variety of different mental health exercises. Users can also list their stressors and anxiety remedies through the app to help curate the exercises that are best for them.
This app prototype was created in Adobe XD.
Extra Components
I wanted to add some social media components to the project as I felt that they would be an effective way to connect with my intended audience. First I thought that Instagram advertising would be a nice way to get the word out about the brand, since many teenagers and young adults are bound to be browsing the app. The Instagram carousel briefly introduces the Mulu character and talks about the purpose of the Cumulus Anxiety Relief Guidebook, and prompts them to learn more in the caption.
After talking to my peers, I also noticed that many people like to listen to music as a way to relax, including myself. Because of this, I thought that created a custom playlist for the brand would be a nice alternative to the guidebook. It includes more down-tempo R&B and folk / indie songs that I personally use to unwind. If you are interested in checking out the playlist on Spotify, scan the QR code below!
Instagram Carousel
Spotify Playlist
Process Work
Before creating the branding of this project, I conducted a survey sent to other students in my year as a way to gauge the direction I should go. I asked them questions such as what causes them anxiety, what colors and things they find relaxing, to inform how I should go about the visuals and content of the kit and guidebook.
After gathering data from my classmates, I settled on an overall color scheme of cool teals and purples that they seem to find the most relaxing. I then created a wordlist that I felt conveyed relaxing and soothing words, and ultimately settled on Cumulus. It is the puffy type of clouds that people relate to softness and freedom, and it lended itself well to being part of an interesting brand mark. The Cumulus brand name also guided me on how I should design the mascot.
