Catherine Bivens
The purpose this project serves began as a familiarization of resources and education, and an exploration of personal grief after losing a loved one. One of the main personal goals of this project was to learn ways in which design could be created for suicide prevention without feeling surface-level. The depth of this kind of design typically lies in the message communicated, and this project’s poster designs are no different. Mental health and suicide prevention has many complexities, as there is not one size that fits all in terms of struggle, support, or treatment.
Another goal of this project was to capture the subject’s complexity, while also making something that could be attractive to a viewer. One of the decisions made in the design of the poster was to create depth–something that required time and curiosity to understand the message on the surface, as well as the message that perhaps is not so immediately identifiable. Mental health and suicide have varying meanings on an individual level, and visually representing these intricacies remained at the forefront of the design process.
This project served as my Honors College Senior Thesis in tandem with my Senior Design Exhibition at Oakland University’s Art Gallery. Read more about this project here.
©2025 Catherine Bivens