Many Paths to Less Fear

Naomi Michelson

1. How might we use color, photography, typography, and personal/ professional advice to discuss anxiety and increase people’s knowledge about available treatment and techniques?

2. How might we get past the stigma of having anxiety and encourage people to help others?

When I was younger, I had anxiety about so many things that it impacted my life negatively. As I have grown older, I have gotten past most of my anxieties by learning coping techniques or getting treatment. Some ways anxiety impacts someone’s daily life are difficulty sleeping and concentrating, decreased self esteem, and worsening other mental health conditions. I interviewed multiple mental health professionals to get insight about what treatments they recommend to their clients. I also interviewed many people who have anxieties themselves and were willing to share their story.

Through testing, I was encouraged to separate the professional advice from the personal stories using color and typography. Also, to continue to push the interaction between the overall story and visual elements. One change I made was having red, an anxiety producing color for the personal story, and a more calming periwinkle and green for advice and techniques.

Fear of Heights

I chose to show having a fear of heights with a 4x7 inch book to represent something tall. The text is at a slope for the personal story to represent looking up a tall building.

Elevator Anxiety

I chose to show having a fear of elevators with a 4x6 inch book to represent how he does not like being alone in elevators with all the space to the sides of him. The text boxes are at two different heights for the personal story to represent one text box “moving up” and one “moving down” like an elevator.

OCD

I chose to show OCD with a 4x9 inch book to represent a finger as this person’s personal story is about how a finger touching lightly on an object causes OCD. The text is long for the personal story to also represent the story.

Claustrophobia

I chose to show claustrophobia with a 6x6 inch book to represent the idea of being “trapped in a box.” The text size in the personal story is larger to represent the feeling of being stuck and having no room to move.

Edgy and Worried

I chose to show having a fear of dogs with a 4x5 inch book to represent a small medicine bottle as medicine is a big part of what has helped this person with their agitated feelings. The text boxes are different sizes and not lined up for the personal story to represent how this person feels edgy when things are out of place and arranged nicely.

Fear of Dogs

I chose to show having a fear of dogs with a 5x8 inch book to represent how this person always remains at a distance when seeing a dog, even though all dogs are smaller than them. The text is in the corner for the personal story to represent how this person feels small when seeing a dog and remains far away.

Panic in the Pool

I chose to show having a fear of elevators with a 4.5x5.5 inch book to represent how even though pools are not that deep, being in the water still scared this person. The text is in a squiggly line to represent water moving.

© Stevenson University 2020