Mental Health Is Health

Approached by Paramount to design an animated spot to address the one in seven young people experiencing mental health disorders, Leanne crafted a vibrant uplifting spot that has the message at its core that your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

Brief

Tasked with crafting an evergreen animation that can be continuously used throughout the year and across the Paramount brands including MTV and Comedy Central, Leanne set out to produce a 3D animation filled with her signature tongue in cheek comedic timing.

Ensuring the film still conveyed the seriousness of the subject, care was given to make the film lighthearted and fun, with the voice over designed to give the comforting feeling of a friend giving you a gentle reminder to look out for your mental health.

Design

When designing the look and feel of the world, it was important that the tone was kept fresh and fun as conversations surrounding mental health can often feel very serious which can discourage people from having them. Leanne’s vision was to create a world where taking care of your mental health is as easy and light as any other part of your daily self care routine.

Cautious not to create something that could be considered childish, Leanne focused on relatability as the connection point for the audience. The character designs were kept human-like, with their personality shown through their bright colours and styling choices.

“We added in a subtle easter egg as only 1 of the main 8 characters is fully blue and not multicoloured, and this is because 1 in 8 people live with a mental health condition. We wanted this character to feel like he still fit in with all the others, and was the same as them, but had a subtle visual difference.”

When designing the environment, Leanne took a step away from her recognisable shiny, plastic texture for a slightly more realistic design to have a more ‘grown up’ feel befitting of the subject, while still existing within the same universe as her usual work.