Caring for Me: a YouthReach Inc. project for young carers
Brand & strategy design
Strategy Design
Visual Identity & Branding
The Context
Young carers are extraordinary. They go above and beyond to support and provide for their loved ones who face chronic mental illness, physical disability, or drug addiction. Their care comes in many forms – taking up responsibilities which often exceeds expectations of
what a young person (aged 5 - 25) can and should be responsible for – be it emotional support, household management, or medical assistance.
The Challenge
YouthReach Inc. was looking to undertake a research project to deeply understand the lives of young carers and translate those findings into new and innovative services, and needed Boundless Good to elaborate on a Human-Centred Design Research strategy, and build a strong brand and visual identity.
The Solution
A project proposal booklet, which communicated to stakeholders:
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Current context for young carers
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Human-Centred Design Research methods & outcome metrics
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Projected budget
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Projected timeline
A branding and style guide to set standards for the design and writing of YouthReach public communications including social media content:
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Logo and typeface use
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Colour guide
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Page layouts
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Graphic and illustrative style
Human-Centred Design Research Methods
The methods proposed included:
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Conversation cards (see image below) to be used between two young carers or in a group setting to spark dialogue which explores and reflects upon the lived experience of young carers
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Expressive journalling in a bespoke journal, so levels of affect and wellbeing can be graphed over short and long-term time scales. Relationships between specific activities, contextual impacts and emotional outcomes can be recorded
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Researcher-led interviews in an environment that is familiar with the interviewee. Interviewing includes gaining discourse from other family members, teachers, health professionals and those being cared for, providing a wider perspective on the caring role, and to discover other insights that young carers themselves may not raise.
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Respectful observation of young carers and their routines to build a 'day in the life of' profile, and reveal normalised or overlooked factors within a young carer's environment that we would not be able to realise through other research tools.
