Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2021

Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2021

Aqueous Headspace
Jacquelyn Wu

Living with mental illness(s) is unarguably a grueling experience. The road is bumpy and never linear. For those experiencing it, their state of well-being may fluctuate with many ups and downs. And in some cases, a painful slippery slope occurs as one condition branches and develops to several others. Mental illness can feel like an endless loop, with moments of elation coupled with dispair. Specifically, bipolar disorder and its vicious cycle of mania and severe depression is an example of this experience.

In the mainstream, the discussion mainly focuses on the negative aspects of living with a condition. In a lot of these conversations, "struggling", "battling" and "coping" with symptoms is a common choice of diction. It contains a connotation that individuals will need to exhaust themselves in intense competition against their illness to achieve an imitation of perceived normalcy. This assumption creates additional stress to a mind that's already in turmoil. Consolidating narratives such as being able to make peace with your condition is rarely mentioned.

To console and uplift people with mental illness, this motion graphic project wishes to encourage that equilibrium is achievable when managing symptoms in mental health. It serves as a screen saver, providing comfort, meditation, and a sense of tranquility. The metaphor of water is utilized to represent symptoms and emotional fluctuations. Like water, mental illness is terrifying because it promises destruction, chaos, and causes us to drown within them. However, water also nurtures, soothes, and allows one to be afloat.

(Red)

Dotun Abeshinbioke

Darina Abuzarova

Sung Hyun (Julie) Ahn

Anisa Al Raisi

Hazal Aysel

Vivek Bajaj

Sunayana Bali

Elliot Bohlen

Madison Brang

Allison Bynum

Rachel Chang

Lilliana Checo

Jizheng Chen

Lena Chen

Mi Chen

Raghav Chhabra

Shreya Chittaranjan

Christopher Chu

Shenny Chuang

Calen Chung

Mae Craford

Chengcheng Cui

Rebecca D'Agostino

Dani de los Santos

Nika Diomidovskaia

Aira Dolfo

Maya Eapen

Yaron Erkin

Louis Falisse

Xiaoke Fei

Bernadette Figueroa

Shih-Ju Fu

Ana Furtado

Martina Gallo

Chenxi (Lisa) Gao

Sierra Glicker

Danielle Beatriz Go

Danni Gomez

QingYing (Mimi) Guan

Peiru Guo

Siyu Hang

Trudy Hoang

Will Howell

Annie Hua

Wallis Huang

Charis Huling

Sana Jamali

Aeva Karlsrud

Lake Kennedy

Byunghyun Kim

Destiny Kim

Yeji Kim

Zen Koo

Padmaja Kothari

McKayla Lankau

Hyunseung Maddie Lee

Jade Lee

Jiwoo Lee

Juna Lee

Victoria Lee

Emma Lepore

Scarlet Li

Sunny Li

Sohyunn Lim

Misty Lin

Stephanie Lin

Yu Tong Tiffany Ling

Lilian Liu

Phoebe Lo

Charlotte Lomas

Kevin Loumeau

Wen Hsin Lu

Dirm Luawo

Peiyun Luo

Youran Mao

Imani McIntosh

Rebecca Mesonjnik

Velimar Molina

Matilde Sofia Monti

Gavin Mullally

Syalsabila Karissa Munaf

Michael Mungai

Sanjana Navar

Katelyn Paik

Aileen Pan

Chanjoo Tiffany Park

Namjoon Park

Storey Pearson

Mariel Quadrino

Simran Rao

Felitasari (Tata) Rekso

Yasmin Rozmee

Rainier Salas

Julia Sams

Eva Serrano Reisner

Anvita Shah

Suditi Shah

Amal Shaheedi

Joyce Shi

Samantha Simotas

Claira Smith

Hyunji Song

Carolina Stierli de Abreu

Niharika Sundarigari

Rachael Tomaszewski

Tiffany Tong

Svasti Ujagar

Ariana Ushiki

Diana Victoreen

Yiqi Wang

Yutong Wang

Zheng Wang

Jasmine Wei

Savannah West

Summer Wojtas

Jacquelyn Wu

Ricky Xie

Connie Xu

Karrie Xu

Ellen Yang

Jacqueline Yang

Emily Yun

Monique Zeitouny Dayan

Cecilia Zhang

Cheryl Zhang

Claire Zhang