Print Design / Social Impact / Conceptual / Bachelor Thesis
We Yearn
Mental Health Awareness Campaign
A series of posters about what we don't say
Mental health struggles are often invisible, and so are the longings beneath them: to be heard, to be seen, to feel safe. This campaign gives those longings a voice.
The project is my bachelor thesis, completed at SWPS University. It combines minimalist illustration, hand-painted gouache, and sparse text to invite reflection, not explanation.
Why posters?
Posters are accessible to everyone, regardless of education or background. A poster meets you on the street, in a hallway, in a moment of quiet. It doesn't demand attention. It earns it.
For this project, that felt like the right way to hold space for a difficult topic.
Process: from digital to tactile
I started digitally. But the work felt flat — too clean, too distant. So I switched to gouache.
Painting by hand changed everything. The texture, the unpredictability, the slowness forced me to sit with each emotion before putting it on canvas. The final posters are scans of the originals, preserving that tactility.
The seven longings
Each poster centers on a single yearning. The visuals are minimal, the colors deliberate, the words intentionally spare. Together, they form a quiet chorus.
Research behind the work
I didn't want to make assumptions. So I interviewed a psychologist, surveyed people with lived experience, and studied the ICD-11 classification of psychiatric disorders.
The goal wasn't clinical accuracy, it was emotional truth. The posters reflect what I heard: that the deepest need is often simply to be met.
