After a full year of dealing with the challenges and change caused by the pandemic, we helped the Fresno County Department of Behavioral Health (FCDBH) with suicide prevention messaging that encouraged residents to reconnect, recenter, and rebuild.
Hope Blooms
Blooming Hope (August 2021 to September 2021)
Challenge
The Smallest Things Can Make the Biggest Impact
One of the key components for this campaign was purposefully avoiding two things:
- Statistics
- Telling residents what they shouldn’t do
Instead, we met individuals where they were at emotionally and grasped their attention with things they might need in that moment, like connection. The messaging asked questions, like “How Are You Feeling?” and “Are You Okay?” Ultimately, our goal was to encourage community members to come together, remind them that brighter days are ahead, and promote the use of professional resources when needed.
The Future Is Brighter
Our final deliverables included a video and interactive mural that told the story of the sunflower and snail reconnecting, recentering, and rebuilding for a brighter future. Our Art Director took extra care in bringing this message to life with hand-drawn visual elements. In fact, each frame of the video was hand crafted individually and animated together to create the final spot.
The story of the sunflower weathering the storm continues to travel throughout Fresno County as an interactive mural where participants can pass along messages of hope and healing to others in their own community.
Weathering the Storm
Our design for this campaign started with a sunflower. This yellow flower is known to be a symbol of hope for individuals struggling with their mental health. It represents many things, including the fact that beautiful things take time to grow. In the campaign, we see the flower getting hit with different elements when the unexpected happens: a snail reaches out to provide support! This story is the essence of hope and resilience for those struggling.
