Brand Identity & Communication Tools for a Graduate Mental Health Initiative

CLIENT

BMS Mental Health & Wellness Committee

MY SUPPORT ROLE

Brand Strategy, Logo Design, Brand Identity, Presentation Template Design

YEAR 

2024

LOCATION

UCSD, San Diego, CA

Context

The BMS Mental Health & Wellness Committee is a graduate-led initiative within UC San Diego that focuses on supporting the mental health and well-being of biomedical sciences students. The committee provides programming, resources, and conversations intended to normalize care, reduce stigma, and create a sense of support and belonging in a high-pressure academic environment.

This initiative required a visual identity that could function within a formal academic setting while remaining gentle, trustworthy, and emotionally considerate, which is particularly important when communicating about mental health.

The Challenge

Designing for mental health contexts carries a heightened level of responsibility. The visual system needed to communicate care, safety, and credibility without appearing clinical or cold; be approachable for students experiencing stress or vulnerability; work across presentations, digital materials, and internal communications; and be easily maintained by committee members and volunteers with varying design experience.

In essence, our overall goal was achieving clarity, reassurance, and consistency.

My Approach

With my belief that brands are ecosystems shaped by values and lived experience, I began with understanding the emotional and institutional context in which BMS operates. The brand identity was designed with restraint and intention, focusing on calm, balanced color palettes that avoid visual overstimulation; clear typographic hierarchy to support readability and reduce cognitive load; and simple, flexible graphic elements that adapt across formats.

To support sustainable use, I developed presentation templates and supporting assets that allow committee members, faculty, and student facilitators to communicate confidently while maintaining visual consistency.

“It was great working with Ilya! We appreciate all her creative ideas and patience with us while we narrowed things down and had everything just right. We now have marketing tools at our fingertips and have already started putting them to use.”
The BMS MHW Team

Outcomes & Impact

BMS MHW’s brand system successfully reinforces the committee’s role as a safe, supportive presence within the graduate community. The visual identity and templates were adopted across mental health programming and presentations. Committee members were able to produce on-brand materials independently, reducing reliance on ad hoc design support. The system supported consistent, recognizable communication within a sensitive and emotionally charged context, and design decisions prioritized legibility, hierarchy, and visual calm to support ease of use across various touchpoints.

This collaboration reflects a stewardship-driven approach to design, where responsibility to the audience is central. Now, the team can benefit from a solution made for non-designers and volunteer-led continuity, visual clarity for diverse audiences and presentation environments, and sensitivity to emotional well-being through tone, pacing, and restraint. It was an absolute pleasure working with this amazing committee. This partnership just demonstrates how thoughtful design can reduce friction, foster connection, and help community-centered initiatives better serve the people who rely on them.

While accessibility remains an area of continued learning, this work intentionally reinforced foundational inclusive design principles such as readable typography, clear hierarchy, and balanced contrast, which are non-negotiable for mental health communications.