T-Shirt for a Cause

About the Project

For this project, we were asked to choose an organization to design a t-shirt for. I chose to focus on NEDA. NEDA stands for the National Eating Disorders Association, which is a group that helps those struggling with eating disorders (EDs). They fight to bring awareness to EDS and the damage that it can cause. It is more likely for people with EDS to have other mental health disorders, like depression, anxiety, OCD, etc (NEDA). I chose to depict mental health through tarot cards. I re-design pre-existing cards: the sun, the moon, and the star. I chose these cards as I thought the meanings aligned with recovery from these specific mental disorders and might give needed messages to those struggling. In addition to turning the star card into the ED card, I turned the moon card into anxiety, and the sun into depression, as these disorders often go hand in hand with EDs. These disorders are often intertwined with each other. The layout of the cards plays into that as well, as it is often one thing after another. The design incorporates a lot of symbolism, but is still more versatile. It was chosen to focus on the aspect of healing and getting help instead of the dark reality, as it can be triggering to those struggling.

Color Palette

Black

Charcoal

Golden Yellow

Final Card Designs

The Star: Eating Disorder

The star card, ed, symbolizes hope, healing, and trust that things will get better. A lot of mental health disorders will tell us there is no hope or better days coming and that we might as well give up. Having hope can give us the needed strength to get through difficult times.

The Moon: Anxiety

The moon card, anxiety, represents deception or things not being what they appear to be which is a very accurate representation of anxiety. When going through anxiety we have to remind ourselves that what our anxiety tells us is likely a lie.

The Sun: Depression

The sun card, depression, illudes joy and happiness, the opposite of depression. When in depression, it can feel like happiness is out of the question. It is one of the lies our minds tell us to keep us in the same negative cycle. This card is a symbol of hope.