Branding Design
Print Design
Not Just A Period Campaign
Overview
The Not Just A Period Campaign is a multi-component campaign which combines educational content in an interactive pop-up( graphic wall art and wheel activity) and poster series aimed at college aged students to raise awareness on the effects of menstruation on athletes.
Timeframe
January 2025 to April 2025 (4 months)
My Role
Art Direction, Graphic Design, User Research
My Team
Janice Wang, Cindy Quach
Type
School Project
IAT 499: Graduation Project
Industry
Health and Wellness
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
My Role
In the first phase of the project, I worked as the assistant to the user research to parse information into actionable insights that drove the direction of our content. In the second phase of the project, I worked as the visual designer and illustrator in conceptualizing our main mascot, and brainstorming the art direction, bringing our vision from the digital world to real life.
Context
In our preliminary research on menstruation in sports, we found that while female participation in sports has been increasing, period education and public understanding remains underdeveloped.
2/3 of elite female athletes
claim menstrual cycles symptoms negatively impact their performance
How the menstrual cycle and menstruation affect sporting performance: experiences and perceptions of elite female rugby players. British Journal of Sports Medicine (2020)
83% of young people (13-21)
in Canada have tried to hide the fact that they are on their period.
Plan International Canada. (2019)
Process
We concluded that we needed to create a visual brand for our campaign that evoke feelings of being approachable, friendly, and inviting since we wanted to attract students from all types of background and experience to visit our installations and pop-up.
Creating the First Drafts
In my initial poster drafts, I chose bright bold colours and clean text to emphasize the information from the posters and not draw much too attention away from the content.
Initial poster designs and content
However, from the main feedback received from teammates, classmates, and our professor, the team and I needed to revise the content and design.
1
The content, tone, and visual design currently feel like deterrents to learning, and could potentially make those viewing the poster feel guilty than willing to learn.
2
The decorative elements, while eye-catching, don't provide value or meaning to the work.
Changes made after the first feedback session
After my teammates finalized the main content of the posters, I created three different mood boards to help guide the possible visuals we wanted to create.
Second draft of content
3 Mood Boards to guide visual direction
It was also in this stage that I brainstormed possible mascot designs that would be included in the posters.
Sketches of proposed mascot
Medium fidelity mascot sketches
Further experimenting with color and style
With the creation of the mascot, and we decided move foward with a design style that encapsulated bright colors, bold strokes, and boxed text as encapsulated in our mood boards.
The second draft of the posters, I experimented with brighter and bolder colors, adding a grid texture, and placing a playful emphasis on the text. I aslo continued refining the mascot design to be incorporated with the posters.
Poster color experimentation and texture exploration
High fidelity mascot version and initial colors
Final color experimentation and style
In our final draft of our posters we worked on narrowing down our color choices, based on feedback from peers and mentors.
Color choices felt too overwhelming
Final Mascot Designs
The main mascot colors were changed to be based on the menstrual cycle blood, and the posters were limited to 5 vibrant themed colors.
Final Poster Style Guide and Posters
With the posters and brand identity completed, we worked on transferring the same designs into take home postcards, tip cards, an interactive wheel, and wall.
What I learned
Feedback is my best friend
Working with other visual designers, we often had many amazing ideas to the point it was difficult to narrow down on one. However, the process of narrowing down a design choice and idea was much easier once we had feedback from our mentors and peers, since they would often provide an outside perspective on the project.
What I Would Do Differently
Not be afraid to fail and fail quicker
I found that a lot of the time when I could have brainstormed more ideas, I was too focused on the "what ifs" and the drawbacks of executing a particular idea. However, I quickly learned that overthinking an idea and shutting down an idea because of those "what ifs" also closed off the opportunity from it further developing. In the future, I have to remind myself that its okay to go wild; then scale back afterwards.
Special Thanks
Thank you class of 2025.
I would have to give appreciation to Janice Wang and Cindy Quach for being the best teammates I could ever ask for. I would also like to give special thanks to our mentors, Andrew Hawryshkewich and Gillian Russell for guiding us to a successful project. (And to the IAT 499 Class for inspiring us with their amazing work during our labs). I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to end off my undergraduate career.