During my final, two-month project in my most challenging graphic design course, I was tasked to find a problem, research it, and solve it based on the data I found and through my graphic design tools. My problem was social media's impact on psychological health, and my solution was creating an organization that supported fathers with daughters on social media– the Social Media Education Foundation (SMEF).
After extensively researching the problem of social media's affect on psychological health, it was evident that social media was an important aspect of how people develop, grow, and learn in the 21st century. Moreover, I studied enough data to find that social media (SM) platforms didn't necessarily impact everyone as negatively as they could have, but the problem wasn't SM's users, it was SM's design; SM platforms like Instagram and Facebook were designed as brilliant drugs to enslave users by manipulating their psychology. Eventually, it could envelop everyone with access, hurting some much more than others. So, how would I solve the problem? How could I mitigate the psychological damage? To see/read the detailed process of how I researched those most at risk, identified those who could impact the at-risk, and engineered the solution to reach those who could bring change, see the process book at the bottom of page.
With pounds of research, hours of strategy, and loads of instruction, it was clear that those who were most at risk but who weren't beyond help were current middle school girls in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the most connected demographics in the U.S. My research also lead me to believe that no one could impact their lives more or care more about the issue than their fathers. Within this group, I targeted Charlotte-based "Be There Dad" (BTD)– an association of local fathers that wanted to actively support and raise their children.
To speak to BTD, I created a mock company, the SMEF to help BTDs shape their children's interaction with SM. The main media which helped BTDs– a curriculum explaining how SM affected their children– also equipped dads to start the conversation with their children. Within the SMEF, I created all the branding and body-copy, the curriculum, the website, and the postcard.
The postcard, above, would be sent to BTD members first, urging them to adopt a larger role/interest in their daughters' interaction with SM. It also invites fathers to take the first step– conversation– at the SMEF course info session.
Below is the SMEF curriculum I designed to help BTDs. This document would be in a BTD chapter meeting/info session, following the postcard and introducing the SMEF course before fathers signed up. As a packet, it includes helpful, succinct information about the SMEF and the timeline, purpose, and scope of the course, A Dangerous Digital World: Navigating Social Media Use as a Father.
The SMEF website is below. More than just an avenue to sign up for the SMEF course, the website houses accessible elements like a mock database and newsletter to assist, support, and educate BTD dads in their confusion about how to help their children.
My full process book is included below. It compiles the critical data of my research, illustrates how that research informed my design strategy, and shows how I iterated on every document throughout the project.
