GUTINO

The brief set by myself was to explore different methods of promoting nutrition as an alternative treatment for mental health patients as opposed to the currently popular drug treatments currently available. Mental health and nutrition are very popular topics individually, each with a lot of existing graphic design solutions, yet the interdisciplinary approach of the combination of the two lacks both public presence and promotion. The overall challenge was creating a service that would both promote and help the user establish healthy eating patterns, which in turn would positively benefits their mental health, whilst simultaneously not stigmatising the service as a mental health service.

This project was heavily researched based. Early in the process, the interview I conducted with my collaborator (who specialises in cognitive and mood effects of a range of nutritional interventions), was extremely beneficial in terms of identifying a number of key design considerations. This input was specifically important in determining my target audience of adolescence (16-24 Y/O) as my collaborator emphasised that this is when both eating habits are being established as well as early onset of mental health conditions. Conducting user testing through the use of questionnaires and surveys has indicated that most students prefer home-cooked meals in comparison to take away’s, but their lack of cooking skills when leaving home, create a barrier from healthy cooking. As touched upon in my background research, the idea of the brain and gut connection is the primary focus in nutrition as a treatment, which lead to the focus on the idea of improving gut health as this would directly Improve mental health, without stigmatising the service as a mental health solution.

Based on my research findings, I developed a brand with it’s main product being gut wellbeing/ cooking app that teaches the user the basics of cooking and makes the process easy through some key features such as ingredients calculator, and step by step video instructions. At the end of the cooking process the user can see the nutritional value breakdown of the meal and how this composition benefits their mental health. Other aspects of the brand revolve around the idea of educating the public about the benefits of nutrition whilst providing them with the recipes that are easy and cost effective. The brand also extends into products that are good for gut health such as gut loving granola.