PROJECT OVERVIEW
Mental Makeover is a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness and education around mental health. Their mission centers on empowering young people to better understand, express, and talk about their emotions through accessible tools and guided activities.
Mental Makeover needed thoughtfully designed materials that could support two very different audiences:
- Youth participants, engaging with hands-on mental health toolkits
- Funders and stakeholders, reviewing the organization’s vision, programs, and long-term impact
THE CHALLENGE
The project required designing materials that balanced emotional sensitivity, clarity, and engagement across multiple formats. Key challenges included:
- Creating instruction booklets that were easy for young people to follow while still feeling interactive and inviting
- Designing activities that felt supportive rather than overwhelming or clinical
- Organizing complex information in a way that encourages participation and completion
- Developing a strategic planning document that clearly communicates the organization’s mission, programs, and future goals to potential funders
Each piece needed to feel cohesive under one visual system while serving very different purposes.
THE APPROACH
The design approach focused on consistency, emotional resonance, and clarity. Core considerations included:
- Establishing repeatable layouts to help users feel oriented and comfortable as they move through activities
- Using visual cues, numbering, and hierarchy to guide readers step-by-step
- Leveraging illustration, texture, and color to reflect emotion, movement, and self-expression
- Organizing long-form content in a narrative structure that tells a clear story
Mental Makeover’s existing color palette was used intentionally to organize content and reinforce familiarity across all materials.
THE SOLUTION
The final solution included activity instruction booklets for Mental Makeover’s mental health boxes and a strategic planning document for funders and partners.
For the mental health box instruction booklets, page layouts were kept consistent to reduce cognitive load. Activities were clearly numbered using bold typography, helping guide users through each step. Background textures — including angled lines to suggest forward movement and softer, curved forms — were used to reflect the complexity of thoughts and emotions young people experience. Each activity was paired with a supporting illustration that visually reinforced the task, such as writing tools or hands-on materials like slime, making the content feel approachable and engaging.
For the Strategic Planning Document, the focus shifted to clarity and storytelling. Large headers, color-coded sections, and structured layouts helped readers understand where they were within the document. Content was organized to tell the story of Mental Makeover’s journey — from its beginnings, through its current programs, and into its future vision. Custom infographics were created to communicate data clearly, while photography from Mental Makeover’s events highlighted the real-world impact of the organization’s work.
Across both deliverables, shared textures, colors, and visual elements created a cohesive system that connects youth-facing materials with funder-facing communications.
THE IMPACT
The completed materials give Mental Makeover:
- Clear, engaging tools that support youth participation and emotional expression
- Instructional layouts that are easy to follow while remaining visually engaging
- A strategic planning document that clearly communicates the organization’s mission, programs, and future goals
- A cohesive visual system that connects participant materials with stakeholder communications
With these materials in place, Mental Makeover is better equipped to engage young people meaningfully while presenting a compelling, organized narrative to funders and supporters.
SCOPE OF PROJECT
The project included:
- Marketing Collateral
- Activity Instruction Booklets
- Strategic Planning Document