lighten your load documentation

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

1

ChallengeThe current problem of the campus is students feel very embarrassed to talk about their problem. Students think that having a problem is abnormal because it makes them a failure. Also, it is very difficult for students to get help right away because of the limited resources CAPS provides. Therefore, we came up with alternative solutions that help students deal with stress. Raising awareness that many people in this community struggle with the same problem would help student feel more comfortable speaking about their problem.

OverviewThis project, Lighten Your Load, strives to address the issue of student’s mental health problem that exists on the Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

GoalsFor this project, we want to provide a better communication between the school and students, help students feel supported by the school/peers, and allow them to get help from school or community whenever they need help - not make them wait until the next appointment at CAPS.

The adjectives we used to describe this project are considerate, approachable, helpful, caring, honest and comfortable. We wanted to use warm, pastel colors to welcome those in need of help.

Design ApproachWe wanted to help students feel supported by the school/ community and help students deal with their stress whenever they need help, so we created an anonymous online blog. On the online blog system, people can post their problem and peers can comment/give advise to the person who post his/or her problem. We thought about the online blog system because it is evident from our survey that people feel very comfortable to share on online blogs anonymously if they have problems that they feel uncomfortable to share with their friends or parents – because it is easier to talk about the problem when you know that no one knows who you are, when both asking and answering. This system could make students feel supported by the school/ community because they have someone to talk to, get advises from peers who have gone through similar problem, and get promise that the problem they are having will be end at some point. Moreover, this online blog could raise awareness to students that they are not the only one who struggle, because students will be able to see when they go on the online blog, that other students also suffer from stress related problems.

Also, we are planning to create a mobile app which has encouraging quotes and app version of the online blog. We thought about mobile app form because mobiles are 24/7 with students and it is evident from our survey that students feel more comfortable with sharing their problems anonymously through digital devices.

Lastly, we are planning to create cards that advertises the online blog and the app. The purpose of this cards is not only to advertise but also to encourage students and to make friendly and approachable communication between school and students.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

2

Audience1. Undergraduates who are under mental stress. Because we believe mind is the root of all the further problems - such as behavior, academic, sleep cycle, eating habit…etc.- and thus it is important to make them happy inside to improve their outside problems/ shapes. Undergraduates will also give advices/comments on the blog.

2. Graduates who are majoring in psychology: These students will monitor the blog comments so that no mean comments get uploaded. They will have the authority to approve or disapprove comments. They will earn credits for their work.

ParametersLighten Your Load is defined by the audience it serves, the context in which it exists, and the form that it takes.

ContextStudents’ individual mailboxes, classrooms, library desks.

We would like to place the advertisement cards in student’s mailboxes, classrooms and library desks. The physical/tactile cards would give students more friendly and individualized feelings. Encouraging quotes will be placed outside of the cards, and information about our blog and app will be placed inside. We are hoping that student place these cards on their personal desk as decorations after they get these cards, and refer to these cards when they need help to find out information about our blog and app.

MediumWe are thinking about online blog forms because it is evident in our survey that many people feel more comfortable to speak anonymous in online space. Also we are thinking about the blog in mobile app form because mobiles are 24/7 with students, therefore makes students’ interaction with the blog more convenient. For advertisement of our blog and app, we are thinking about physical card form. It was evident from out servey that people feel more attached to tactile things than digital things. Physical card from can also be more permanent rather than digital form in display purposes.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

3

NarrativeLighten Your Load is characterized by a series of steps that define the experience.

Students will find Lighten Your Load’s advertisement cards in their individual mail boxes. They will be able to interact with the opening cards which has encouraging quotes on the front and information about the Lighten Yout Load’s website and application inside.

Other than the individual mailboxes, students will be able to find Lighten Your Load cards on library desks and classroom desks.

The cards are designed to stand on desks and other surfaces. Students just have to place the card on their desks if they desire to use it as a decoration.

We are hoping that students fancy our cards with quotes and design. Students can save our cards for future reference. If they kept the cards, they can easily use them to access the information about our site and app.

Even if they did not keep the cards, students will remember reading about Lighten Your Load’s information. When they have issues they want to share anonymously, they can refer our website or app.

If the student kept the card on their desks, getting information about our website and the application would be easier.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

4When students visit our website, they will see five catagories: academic, financial, relationship, emotional and physical issues.

Students can diagnose their issues and click the related category. For example, if the student is having a relationship issue, they can press the relationship button to read and share issues.

On the page labeled relationship issues, students can share their story anonymously. Sometimes students get afraid to share their story because they don’t want their names to remain as a record. The anonymous system will allow students to write their problems with more comfort.

When student’s post their issues. Other students can give advise to the student having issues by commenting on his/her posts. The website will be open to all the CMU students so the students having problems can recieve various advice.

Because there is a chance that some students can post irrelevent or mean comments. We will have psychology master student to monitor the site. Master students will have the power to delete or approve comments. They will get 3 credit for their work and they will be trained.

Students will first see the stories but not the comments.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

5If they click on the story’s comment button, the students will be able to see other’s comments on that specific story.

Other than the issues that students posts, on our website we will also have quotes from CMU. These are quotes spoken by CMU’s faculty, staff and students. If students wanted to read what CMU community has to say and wanted to feel community support, they can simply visit the other tab of our website.

Because almost every CMU students owns a mobile phone, we thought to create an mobile app version of our website. Mobile web will allow students to get help instantly when they need help which out waiting.

The app will also have three main tabs: share your issues, CMU voices and about us. Students can share their story, give advcie and read about CMU quotes and us, just like they would on their computers only this time, they will be using their mobile phones.

The stories and quotes will follow a clean one column grid. We wanted to give each story ample amount of space and equal importance. One column is our way of saying student’s issues are important and CMU cares.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

6By recieving advice from fellow students, the student who shared her story will realize that she is not the only one with problems. She will be able to relate to fellow students better.

With the advice given, the student might be able to get out their issues or at least feel less stressed about it then before.

Students will feel supported and thank the helps.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

7

Hopefully students will feel better about the issues they had. Maybe they feel more of a part of CMU’s community. We are hoping that students feel accomplished by helping other students.

We are hoping that students who recieved help will return the help by writing comments to posts.

They can share their experience and give advice. Students can give advice either on their computer or their mobile phones using our Lighten Your Load application.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

8

Written contentTitle: Lighten Your Load

Subtitle: Encouraging quotes

Body: Is something weighing you down?share your story, and lighten your load.www.cmu-lyl.com

Written contentHeading: Share your issues

Title: emotional,physical,academic,relationship,financial

Subtitle: Emotional section

Body: Issue posted by a student“I feel depressed lately, I don’t want to see anyone. I don’t want to go to classes but I go because I am scared of my GPA falling. I feel like too much is going on my life that I cannot control. I don’t want to eat somedays, I can’t fall asleep some nights.”

ContentLighten Your Load consists of several different types of content, which are defined here.

We placed the cards inside the mailbox and library/classroom desks for advertisement purposes. It is made to advertise our website and app. The attractive cover and the interation(opening the card) serves the purpose more efficiently.

This is the website the card advertised. It is categorized in to five sections, so that the writer can easily get replies.

Sample response by other students:“When I cannot fall a sleep, I write down what’s in my mind. Dump it all out on a paper and listen to calming music. It helps!”“I have been through a period, when I was not consuming food. I regretted it later because after I had bad stomachaches. I know it’s hard, but try to eat. Health matters!”

Comments that will be deleted by the administer: “Dont’ call this depressing. you don’t know anything about depression. Deal with it!” ( erased by administer )

The written content is same for website and mobile app.

We also created a mobile app, so that people have instant access to the website.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

9

ContextLighten Your Load is situated in various places throughout the Carnegie Mellon campus as shown below.

UC mail box:We chose UC mail boxes to evoke personal feeling and care to our users. We are planning to put our 3x3 introduction cards into student’s individual mailboxes.

Student will find out our introduction card from their mail boxes and they will first see beautiful brush stroke with encouraging quote on the outside, then they will find out information about our blog and app when they open it. We hope that students to put the cards on their wall or on their desk as a decoration and refer to it when they need help later ( same for other context).

Library desk: We chose library desks for those who don’t check their mail boxes often. We are planning to put our 3x3 introduction cards on the library desks, so that student who come to the desk could take the cards- like a surprise gift!

Classroom desk: We chose classroom desks for those who don’t check their mail boxes often or doesn’t go to library often. We are planning to put our 3x3 introduction cards on the individual classroom desks, so that student who sit on the desk could take the cards.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

10Anywhere with mobile phone:

Our blog will also be available in mobile app. Whenever students feel they want to go to our blog, they will refer to the introductory cards that they received, then they will download the app from app store. After they download the app, students can click on our app icon in order to go to the blog. Students will have access to the blog anywhere with internet or 3g/4g access.

Anywhere in front of computer (using Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.):

Our blog will be living in online space. Whenever students feel they want to go to our blog, they will refer to the introductory cards that they received,then they can simply type in our url “ www.cmu-lyl.com “ in any of the browsers. When they type in our url, they will be redirected to our blog.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

11

PaletteThese colors serve as the color palette for the communication system

UsageEach type of information is set in a specific color/set of colors as shown below.

bg color foremotional section/ quotes

bg color for emotional-comment

bg color for academic section/ quotes

bg color for relationship section/ quotes

bg color for financial section/ quotes

bg color for academic-comment

bg color for relationship-comment

bg color for financial-comment

bg color for emotinal-issue

font color for emotional section

bg color for academic-issue

bg color for relationship-issue

bg color for financial-issue

font color for academic section

font color for relationship section

font color for financial section

CMYK:83, 83, 0, 0opacity : 20% Pantone: 2725 C opacity : 20% RGB: 77, 74, 159opacity: 20%

CMYK:41, 24, 1, 0opacity : 20% Pantone: 2717 Copacity : 20% RGB: 149, 174, 216opacity : 20%

CMYK:0, 0, 0, 10opacity : 100% Pantone: 663 Copacity : 100% RGB: 230, 231, 232opacity: 100%

CMYK:39, 90, 47, 21opacity : 20% Pantone: 7642 Copacity : 20% RGB: 137, 51, 85opacity: 20%

CMYK:51, 29, 83, 8opacity : 20% Pantone: 7491 Copacity : 20% RGB: 131, 145, 80opacity:20%

CMYK:25, 21, 84, 0opacity : 20% Pantone: 7751 Copacity : 20% RGB: 199, 184, 79opacity : 20%

Visual VocabularyLighten Your Load is characterized by visual components that stay consistent among all of the communication materials. This creates a cohesive system that connects seemingly disparate communication pieces.

ColorWe used pastel colors of different hue to reveal friendliness of our piece. The light muted colors evoke friendly, approachable, comfortable, helpful, and caring feelings. We selected hues that many people associates with words relationship, financial, emotional, academic, and physical: red for relationship (love), green for financial (dollar bill), blue for emotional (feeling blue), yellow for academic (yellow-notepad), and purple for physical (bruises).

The selected colors, as can be seen on the right side, serve as theme color for different sections in our blog. So the homepage starts out in gray and has five spot colors of the selected hues that represents different sections in our blog.If user clicks one of the section, the user will be redirected to the page that is entirely filled up with the theme color of the section.

We differentiated types of content within a section by values. For example, background color is in the lightest value, issues/concerns that users post are in darker value, and comments from other people ( which is revealed only when user clicks on “comment button”) are in the darkest value. The darker value will also let users to know “what am i looking at now”.

Font color in each section is in similar hue of the section, but has enough contrast between background and foreground, in order to ensure readability and legibility of the content. For darker back-ground ( such as comment boxes), the font color is white.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

12

UsageEach type of information is set in a specific color/set of colors as shown below.

bg color forphysical section/quotes

bg color forhome/quotes

bg color for physical-comment

font color for section that is selected

bg color for physical-issue

font color for section that is not selected

font color for physical section

PercentagesEach piece is design accordingly to the percentages of colors shown here.

homepage-desktop

academic issues page-desktop

emotional issues page-desktop

relationship issues page-desktop

financial issues page-desktop

physical issues page-desktop

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

13

TypographyThe atmosphere of our project is approachable, friendly, and honest. In the process of choosing fonts, we decided to use the San Serif fonts because it was more friendlier than the Serif fonts. We tried meta first, but it made our blog look clinical, which was not what we were aiming for. After meta, we tried handwritten fonts to add friendliness. However, it made our blog too childish and was hard to read. When we tried Rotis San serif and Serif, it gave us the atmosphere we wanted to form, which was the friendliness and approachable. Rotis is also legible.

We unified our blog and mobile app with Rotis San Serif, and gave different sizes to the font to show hierarchy. Within the sizes, we didn’t exceed 18pts, in order to evoke airy and comfortable feeling of our blog. For mobile app, we kept the font sizes of the body same as the website for readability. However, the ratio of the screen and the text size is smaller than in the blog.

For the cards, we made the type size smaller compared to the image because we wanted people to see the image first. Our purpose was to catch people’s eye with the image, then let them want to read the quote and the inside. In the inside we reduced the size of the font to evoke quite but sincere feeling. We used Serif on the cover of the card because we wanted to give a little differentiation from the rest of our project. The blog and app focuses on voices from CMU. Whereas, the cover of the cards are quotes from famous people. We wanted the san serif fonts for CMU related and serif fronts for outside sources. Also, even though we are aiming for friendliness and approachable atmosphere, our blog is an official system. By using serif instead of San serif, we are showing the serious aspect of our project.

UsageEach type of information has type specifications as shown below.

Card_cover quoteRotis Serif

Type Size:12pt Type Style:serif 55

Web_ main & subtitleRotis San Serif Type Size: 14pt Type Style:45Light

Web_main categoriesRotis San serif Type Size: 12pt Type Style: 45Light

Website_tabsRotis San Serif Type Size:18pt Type Style: 45Light

Web_categoriesRotis San Serif Type Size: 11pt Type Style:45Light

Fighting for your dreams isn’t always easy but it’s so worth it.

what is weighing you down?

RelationshipsFiancialAcademicEmotionalPhysical

share your issues


Card_InsideRotis San Serif Type Size: 11pt Type Style: 45light

Is something weighing you down?

Card_cover nameRotis Serif Type Size:10pt Type Style: serif 55

John Lennon

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

14

Web_ date & commentRotis San Serif

Type Size:8ptType Style:45Light

Mobile_tabsRotis San Serif Type Size: 12pt Type Style:45Light

Mobile_Log inRotis San serif Type Size: 12pt Type Style: 45Light

Website_Log inRotis San Serif Type Size:12pt Type Style: 45Light

Website_ category selectedRotis San Serif Type Size:11pt Type Style: 65Bold

Mobile_subtitlesRotis San Serif Type Size: 12pt Type Style:45Light

2013.4.17

comment

share your issues

student ID

student IDRelationship

what is weigh-ing you down?

Web_quotenameRotis San Serif Type Size: 10pt Type Style: 45light

Hyun Doug Kim

Web_bodyRotis San Serif Type Size:11pt Type Style: 45light

I feel depressed lately, I don’t want to see any-one. I don’t want to go to classes

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

15

Mobile_ category selectedRotis San Serif

Type Size:10.5pt Type Style:65Bold

Mobile_quote nameRotis San serif Type Size: 8pt Type Style: 45Light

Mobile_bodyRotis San Serif Type Size:11pt Type Style: 45Light

Mobile_categoriesRotis San Serif Type Size:10.5pt Type Style: 45Light

Relationships Hyun Doug Kim

I feel depressed lately, I don’t want to see anyone. I don’t want to go to


Mobile_date & commentRotis San Serif Type Size: 6pt Type Style: 45light

2013.4.17comment

Mobile_bodyRotis Serif Type Size:11 Type Style: serif 55

I feel depressed lately, I don’t want to see anyone. I don’t want to go to

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

16We have blue for emotional issues. This blue water color mark will sit on the emotional issues quote card. This mark is less fierce than other marks like how our emotions are everywhere.

Yellow line symbolizes academic. The rising stroke resembles students striking for a higher grade. We lowered the opacity to state that at Lighten Your Load, that higher grade matters less.

This purple represent physical issues. The purple mark which represents bruise starts off dark but fades slowly. We wanted to tell students that bruise will one day go away like the issues they are having.

This red mark corresponds to relationship issues. The mark is rough to symbolize the fierce nature of relationship issues.

Our financial image is green. This green stroke represents the dollar bill. With this mark we tried to represent money cannot define happiness. One day you might be loaded with money, one day you might not, but no matter what happiness will always be there.

ImagesWe used water color marks on our project. We wanted soft, friendly, welcoming, comfortable look to our project and we thought the light water color matched well. Water color marks can never be recreated exactly. Each and every mark is individual and special. We thought that individuality goes well with our project, for we think each and every posts students make are unique on their own. We wanted the texture of the water color paper to show so we purposly controlled the amount of water we used. We unified the stroke to a single line to show honesty.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

17

ProportionsWe have three components to our project: website, application and advertisement card.

The website and application is for tech-savy CMU students. On the survey we sent out, 70 % of students replied they prefer using anonymous online system than to offline (see a counselor, talk to a friend, family, writing on a wall etc.) to discuss their issuses. The friendly site will welcome students to share their problems and feel supported. The application allows students to carry that support no matter where they go.

Although, our project focuses heavily on online, we did not wanted to exclueded the power that offline presents. We decided to include small hand heldable card to welcome anyone who is interested in visiting our website. 97% of survey fillers prefered receiveing a card than an e-mail in terms of friendliness.

All of the medium proportion shown right are shrunk by 3.

website 1280 x 1024 pixels

card 3x3 inches

mobile application 320 x 480 pixels

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

18

MaterialsThe materials we used are watercolor on canson paper and the digital forms such as the website and the mobile app. For the design of the advertising cards, we used watercolor on canson paper to make friendly and approachable feelings through the hand generated marks. The light color and the texture of the storke provides user friendly feeling and make people want to keep the card and visit our website.

We also used the digital form. One of the digital forms we are using is the website. Through the survey we sent out, we received the result that people feel more comfortable when sharing their issues through online ananymously. We are creating an online blog where peers can help each other’s issue. The blog will form a community feeling that that person is not the only person going through struggles.

Along with the website, we used a mobile app. Mobile app provides instant acccess to the blog. It is in same design and purpose as the website, but it increases the interaction between the users and the blog. Increase of the accessibility will make more people to participate in the online community.

For the advertising cards, we used watercolor on canson paper. We used water color to provide a friendly and approachable feeling through the hand generated marks.

Digital forms are also one of our materials. Websites are suitable for providing an anonymous space where students care share their issues.

Another digital form we used was the mobile app. Through the mobile app, students have easier and instant access to the blog, increasing the interation between the students and the blog.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

19

Graphic LanguageWe added water color marks on the background to match our voice with our introductory cards images. And we used organic hand-feel-marks to evoke personal, comfortable, and approachable feeling to our users. The graphic language we are using help users to lessen their burden while writing about their issues and concerns.

These marker marks below category names represents theme color for each category. The imperfect hand-feel marks reminiscent users of picking a pen color for their personal diary.

Tabs and outer boxes also have organic-hand-marked edges, for the same reason as issues and comment boxes. We add water color marks on the background in order to visually connect our blog&app to our cards.

The issues and comment boxes have organic hand marked edges. We made boxes to not have angular corners or harsh edges in order to evoke approachable feeling of our piece.

The post box has drop-shadow while posts that are already posted don’t. We gave drop-shadow to post box to distinguish the post box from other posts.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

20

System ExamplesLighten Your Load resulted in a set of design pieces that function as a cohesive system, as shown below.

When students enter our url, they will arrive at our log in page. When they enter their andrew id and press either student or admin, they will be directed to our homepage. This log in is to prevent non-CMU people from accessing the site. The site will still remain as anonymous.

When students log in and access our homepage, they can click on any of the five categories to share their issues. For example, if the student clicks, the emotional issues button, they will be redirected to our emotional issues page.

This is the layout of our emotional page. Other pages appear in their corresponding colors. First, students will only see the stories.

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

21


When students click the post your issues page, the post box will appear for students to write their story. After they post the issue, the newly posted issue will sit at the very top.

Other students can see that new story has been posted. If they click the comment button next to the story, they can write comments for that story. When they press the button post, the comment will be posted and like the stories, the latest comment will sit at the top.

Because, the comments can be inappropriate, the graduate students can monitor the website and either approve or delete the comments.

I feel depressed lately, I don't want to see anyone. I don't want to go to classes but I go because I am scared of my GPA falling. I feel like too much is going on my life that I cannot control. I don't want to eat somedays, I can't fall asleep some nights.

share your issuescmu voices about us

relationships �nancial academic emotional physical

post your issue

I don’t know why but I am so tired. I haven’t done anything today, yet, I feel like as if I ran a marathon. I feel dizzy. I just want to stay in bed all day. I just want to sleep and I wish no one or work will wake me up. I get extremely mad at whomever woke me up.

2013.4.20

comments

You should take care of your own problem. You go to CMU and you are adult. Don’t be childish!

2013.4.21

When I cannot fall a sleep, I write down what's in my mind. dump it all out on a paper and listen to calming music. It helps!

2013.4.20

I have been through a period, I regretted it later because after I had bad stomachaches. I know it's hard, but try to eat. Health matters!

2013.4.20

write

approve

disapprove


2013.4.19

Hea

lthy

Qua

lity

of L

ife

I S

prin

g 20

13

Inte

rmed

iate

Typ

ogra

phy:

Org

aniz

ing

Info

rmat

ion,

Inst

ruct

or: S

taci

e Ro

hrba

chTe

am L

ight

en Y

our

Load

: Suz

anne

Cho

i, H

yun

Dou

g Ki

m, J

i-You

ng L

ee

Mea

ning

in C

olor

Thr

ough

Obj

ect a

nd P

lace

, Ins

truc

tors

: Cha

rlee

Bro

dsky

and

Mar

k M

entz

er

22


The descriptions are same as the website.


what is weighing you down?share your story & reduce your burden

issues :


student

everything will be anonymous! don’t worry!

CMU community private space

admin

student ID

password

suzanne1

***********


When I look at my mirror, I cannot take my eyes off, not because that I’m beautiful, but because I see too many defects in my face. Help me out!

I realized that I don’t smile often thesedays. I don’t have any problems or concerns at this point, however, I don’t feel happy enough to laugh. Also, I sometimes cry because of no reason. Am I having a depression?

I am so afraid. my mood changes so drastically and so often. It is out of my control. What should I do.........ahh


2013.4.19

2013.4.19

2013.4.18

2013.4.17


comments

comments

comments

post


When I look at my mirror, I cannot take my eyes off, not because that I’m beautiful, but because I see too many defects in my face. Help me out!


2013.4.19

2013.4.19


comments

comments

post

thank you for sharing!

post


what is weighing you down?share your story & reduce your burden

issues :


I have been through a period, I regretted it later because after I had bad stomachaches. I know it's hard, but try to eat. Health matters!


2013.4.19

2013.4.20

2013.4.20


comments

write

I don’t know why but I am so tired. I haven’t done anything today, yet, I feel like as if I ran a marathon. I feel dizzy. I just want to stay in bed all day. I just want to sleep and I wish no one or work will wake me up. I get extremely mad at whomever woke me up.

When you don’t feel like getting out of bed, thendon’t. Think of it as a gift to yourself. However, try not to exceed a day.

2013.4. 21

post

When I cannot fall asleep, I write down what’s in my mind, dump it all out on a paper and listen to calming music. It helps!

lighten your load documentation

Documents

need of help

similar problem

online blog system

anonymous online blog

school community

online blogs

community struggle

comfortable speaking