You are not your thoughts
This first-year brief asked us to make a PSA for a Canadian charity. The Canadian Mental Health Association gave me room to address OCD, something I have lived with since childhood.
The single most impactful quote that I have ever heard in my life: “you are not your thoughts.” Intrusive thoughts are central to OCD, yet that part is rarely explained well. Once I understood the difference between having a thought and believing it, I could grapple with the condition differently.
Finding the image
One early direction put a head inside a birdcage. It communicated being trapped, but missed the cruelty and noise of intrusive thoughts. Mouths worked better. They became voices sitting on top of the person, saying things that feel close while remaining separate from them.
My professor liked the direction and asked for more expression. I exaggerated the mouths, pushed their shapes, and vectorised the finished piece.
A student piece I kept
The work never ran as a public campaign, so there is no reach metric attached to it. It stays here because even though it was one of the first things that I made, I remain proud of its expression and purpose.