Art detox : unwind your mind

Abstract

This paper presents Art Detox: Unwind Your Mind, a campaign to promote mental wellness through art, initiated by three final year students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. The campaign aimed to improve the mental wellbeing of Singaporean young adults aged 18 to 29, through encouraging them to incorporate art-making activities into their daily lives to build mental resilience. The paper summarises the primary and secondary research that influenced the campaign’s messaging, strategies and tactics. On top of studying current literature, a survey study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of young adults’ exposure and perception on the therapeutic benefits of art-making, as well as their general level of mental wellness. Drawing insight from the formative research, the campaign’s strategy was designed to effect informational, attitudinal and behavioural changes. Campaign outreach activities were organised to carry across the key messages of the campaign. While online platforms were utilised to extend campaign reach to the target audience due to its convenient and accessible nature, offline platforms directly engaged the target audience in the desired behaviour. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the campaign’s objectives through analysis of a post-campaign survey, impact and output objectives, media coverage, and appraisals from stakeholders. Continuity plans for the campaign, made possible through collaborations with various committees and societies, will also be elaborated on. The campaign’s collaterals, photos, correspondence, as well as lists and tables detailing its execution, can be found in the appendices.