Opening Minds Through Art Amy Lewin–Senior Thesis Process Book
Table of Contents DEFINE
RESEARCH
DESIGN
REFINE
SUBMIT
REFLECT
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
DEFINE Opening Minds Through Art (OMA) OMA is an intergenerational art program for people with dementia. It is grounded in person-centered ethics and founded on the fact that people with dementia are capable of expressing themselves creatively. There is a growing body of empirical evidence that creative expression improves their physical and psychological wellbeing. The mission of OMA is to build bridges across age and cognitive barriers through art.
Problem Dementia care patients do not all have access to art therapy programs with proven success rates. My thesis aimed to address this issue by helping the Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program expand through several different outlets and ultimately encourage more students and community members to get involved.
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Project Objectives Create an engaging campaign that will get students and community members excited about OMA. This campaign will include designed marketing materials urging people to volunteer or get involved with their community OMA program.
Target Audience My target audience included current volunteers, as well as students and community members who are interested in getting involved with the program. My secondary audience included nursing homes and loved ones of a dementia care patient. Nursing homes are a key asset to the program’s success and ultimately implement this program within their homes. Loved ones of a dementia patient–Families who have a member suffering from dementia look to OMA to learn more about ways they can keep their loved one active, and involved in the creativity process.
Schedule I proposed OMA as my thesis topic in December of 2012 and was alloted the next five months to define my problem, research the topic at hand, and execute design solutions. Throughout this process, I organized my time accordingly to set and meet interim goals.
DEFINE 4
RESEARCH Initial Research I began my research by finding expert resources to consult with throughout my process. The founder of OMA and I were in constant contact and she provided me with compiled data from years past, journal articles, student reflections, photographs and more. In addition to using OMA’s existing resources, I gathered information from both print and digital areas of communication.
Interviews I interviewed current and past members of OMA, the founder, Elizabeth Lokon, student leaders, and had a chance to interview some OMA dementia patients as well. Conducting these interviews gave me a better grasp on what parts of the program were working, why, and what could be done to expand the program in the future.
Visual Research Collecting visual research helped to show me how similar organizations were representing themselves visually. I collected a variety of examples of brand development, package design, web design and art therapy projects.
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DESIGN 6
DESIGN 7
DESIGN Initial Prototypes 1. Re-brand OMA Give OMA an updated look and feel, and apply this new brand to a website layout. 2. OMA Kit This kit will be available for nursing homes looking to start or expand an intergenerational art program. It will include, printed materials about the program, research, one pack of OMA postcards, and an example OMA art project with necessary art supplies to complete the project 3. Big Picture Campaign I plan to use data visualization methods and infographics to help the program display their research visually, as well as increase volunteer numbers, and help promote the program on campus.
Feedback Work on infographic iconography Show how the program has grown Create a poster series about how the program helps people The new campaign should drive the branding Love the campaign concept: “Be a Part of the Big Picture� Re-think the kit: could become a promotional mailer Final Presentation Deliverables: Mailer, Poster series, Social Media Plan DESIGN 8
1. Re-brand OMA
DESIGN 9
2. OMA Kit
DESIGN 10
2. Big Picture Campaign
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REFINE Design Revisions After the midterm review, I moved forward with the “Big Picture Campaign.” The campaign itself evolved to focus on what volunteers gain when they give back through OMA. The slogan became “Give & Gain. Volunteer with OMA.“ The goal of the campaign was to get people excited about volunteering with OMA, highlighting all the benefits of giving back. I developed an infographic style approach to visually show students what they will gain from giving.
Final Presentation This approach was executed through a postcard series, poster, accordion folded booklet, apparel design, buttons, aprons, invitation layouts. This style and campaign was integrated into the design of a blog included with an outlined social media plan for how OMA could expand their audience.
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Find your career path.
Connect with your community.
Have a 90 year old best friend.
Make meaningful relationships.
Better understand your own aging.
Find your career path.
Connect with your community.
Learn about yourself.
Have a 90 year old best friend.
Make meaningful relationships.
Learn to better cope with challenges.
Learn about yourself.
Better understand your own aging.
Do it for the sheer enjoyment.
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Channel your inner artist! Come paint a masterpiece with OMA. No experience necessary! Get step-by-step guidance from professional painter, Irene Friedman. Supplies are provided. Cost is $10. Come early to choose your seat and enjoy treats! Wednesday, April 17 from 6:30-9pm Oxford Community Arts Center 10 S. College Ave Proceeds help support Opening Minds Through Art (OMA), and funt art programming for local elders with dementia.
You will make your own version of this painting on a 12x16 inch ready-to-hang canvas!
RSVP by April 5th to MiamiRSVPOMA@gmail.com
Opening Minds Through Art Please join us in honoring our OMA artists at
The Spring 2013 Art Exhibition Friday, April 12 from 6:00-8pm Oxford Community Arts Center 10 S. College Ave This event is free and open to the public and is a great opportunity to celebrate the work of all of our OMA artists. Hope to see you there!
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Opening Minds Through Art Cedar Village� Miami University
Opening Minds Through Art Cedar Village� Miami University
“The more I look at it, the more beautiful it gets… ” –OMA Artist
“The more I look at it, the more beautiful it gets… ” –OMA Artist
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Social Media Plan
Give & Gain Campaign: Fall 2013-Spring 2014 1. Create and secure a business page/username a. Branded Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn and encourage Instagram use by volunteers 2. Start a blog a. Wordpress: www.scrippsoma.wordpress.com - username: SCRIPPSOMA@Yahoo.com, password: OMAKaizen b. Link blog to current website and use “ScrippsOma” as username for consistency 3. Listen & Connect 4. Share Content a. “Share your story campaign” post to social media outlets - Post a weekly video/blog post about a volunteer’s experience b. Genuine blog posts - Testimonials from students and family emmbers - Links to related dementia articles, blog posts and new findings - Videos from students and community - Post inspirational quotes from students and participants 5. Stick with it a. Designate a person/student/volunteer to maintain the websites b. Try to participate daily 6. Measure a. Facebook Insights–tailor posts to your target audience b. LinkedIn Insights c. Twitter Counter– allows you to see the performance of your twitter account as well as how your tweets are performing 7. Change as needed a. Be flexible and change as needed. Do a monthy recap of what social media is the most effective for your target audience and see what is working and what is not. Try to have fun with usage!
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SUBMIT Feedback During my final critique several things were noted. The infographic poster I had designed was overwhelming to audiences and they weren’t exactly sure where to read first. In addition, some of the eight findings that OMA volunteers gained were not as exciting than others. It was suggested that instead of trying to group all the final elements into one poster, I should create a poster series each highlighting one “gain“ that spoke most to students. The campaign slogan of “Give & Gain,“ was very well received and I was asked to focus more on that. I further developed the campaign logo, so it was recognizable in relation to OMA, and added the OMA logo to my posters, so students who were not familiar with the program, would understand the connection of my campaign to OMA. Campaign Logo:
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An Intergenerational Art Program for People with Dementia Each week students and community members give back by volunteering with Opening Minds Through Art (OMA). See what you could gain!
Find your career path. Want to learn more about getting involved with OMA? Check us out!
SUBMIT 18
An Intergenerational Art Program for People with Dementia Each week students and community members give back by volunteering with Opening Minds Through Art (OMA). See what you could gain!
Have a 90 year old best friend. Want to learn more about getting involved with OMA? Check us out!
An Intergenerational Art Program for People with Dementia Each week students and community members give back by volunteering with Opening Minds Through Art (OMA). See what you could gain!
Connect with your community. Want to learn more about getting involved with OMA? Check us out!
An Intergenerational Art Program for People with Dementia Each week students and community members give back by volunteering with Opening Minds Through Art (OMA). See what you could gain!
Do it just for the fun. Want to learn more about getting involved with OMA? Check us out!
SUBMIT 19
REFLECT What I learned This project has been a challenge throughout, but rewarding at each phase. The ultimate goal when beginning the project, was to raise awareness about OMA and I believe when I give them my materials, they will be able to utilize some of them in the promotion of their organization. It was a challenge to come into a project with no real idea of how it would turn out, and each critique helped me to better understand what my audience was looking for. I learned how to think flexibly about a solution, and provide multiple options of solving the same problem. I felt comfortable iterating at each phase, and I learned to trust my first instinct when it came to critiquing my designs.
Where I Could Improve If I could do it again, I would change a lot of things. There were several roadblocks to my smooth completion of this project, all of which better communication would have helped me to better avoid. I was one of two presented with the unique challenge of not being able to participate physically in the course, as I was in San Francisco for the semester. This created automatic communication challenges and scheduling conflicts due to time change issues. If I could do it again, I would have set a personal outlined schedule of deliverables with individual due dates and I would have organized scheduled check-ins with my professor and my client. REFLECT 20
How I Have Benefited I feel I am more prepared to go into an ambiguous environment and come out with solid design solutions. I feel this is a valuable skill, because I am not going to always be handed a project with set deliverables. As a student, I think I am more used to being told what I need to have at the end of a project, so my thesis has been a guide into what a project in the working world would look more like.
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