The Challenges

The Mental Health and Society Initiative works in partnership with NGOs to develop alternatives to institutions and advocate for changes in policy toward the adoption and replication of these alternatives by governments. My role in the Mental Health and Society organization went beyond design work. I had to help them convey their message, develop their organizational capacity, and establish communication strategies to use in their short and longer-term advocacy efforts. The existing MHS communications system included a logo, leaflets, a monthly newsletter, and a web site. These assets had to be reconsidered to better represent the NGO and its mission.

The first challenge was the language. Kyrgyz people speak Russian and very few people at MHS spoke English. Moreover, their entire communications system was in Russian — the newsletter, the leaflets, and the web site. How was I to create new designs that included written work when the text is made up of Cyrillic letters that I did not understand? The second challenge was convincing the director of Mental Health and Society and the staff that the organization’s identity would benefit greatly from devising a completely new approach to branding.

The Solutions

The first thing I did was to download Russian fonts from the Internet. My plan was to work from my laptop and to transfer the design files on to their computers later. However, I realized that the leaflets, for instance, lived on their computers in editable formats. I decided that it would be better to alter their files rather than create new ones. In doing so, I had to establish new designs, but at least I had the content, meaning the text, ready. I needed help with the language. Aigul, a social worker at the outpatient center, spent significant time by my side and helped me out with the Russian.

Next, I had to create Mental Health and Society’s new identity. Their initial logo had more of an industrial feel, and I knew that the new brand had to speak of the important work of the organization. I also felt that it had to have pleasing colors implying ‘change’ and ‘hope’. I worked on a look that consisted of joyful people of all ages. Then I spoke to Burul, the director of the NGO, and told her that it was essential that their new identity convey the core values and vital work of MHS. Finally, I showed her the work and she loved it.