Mental Noise
A Music Festival for QTPOC Mental Health Care
Synopsis
Mental Noise is a one-day outdoor music festival benefitting the National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN). This organization works to transform mental health for queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) by providing a searchable directory of queer & trans therapists of color in North America, a Mental Health Fund that supports QTPOC in accessing therapy, and a variety of other resources. Mental Noise features QTPOC musicians from the Philadelphia area, information on NQTTCN, and local therapists from their network. The main goals of the event are to raise funds for NQTTCN’s Mental Health Fund, and spread awareness about accessible therapy options for QTPOC in Philadelphia. Mental Noise takes place in West Philadelphia’s Clark Park, an outdoor, all-ages, and wheelchair-accessible venue.
About NQTTCN
Mission from the NQTTCN website:
“The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) is a healing justice organization that actively works to transform mental health for queer and trans people of color in North America. Together we build the capacity of QTPoC…mental health practitioners, increase access to healing justice resources, [and] provide technical assistance to social justice movement organizations to integrate healing justice into their work.”
What they’re doing well:
- NQTTCN has a substantial social media following and makes frequent posts featuring therapists from their network
- They promote a holistic approach to mental health care and provide public education on why mental health care must be tied to liberation movements
- Their searchable therapist directory provides a valuable resource to QTPOC searching for mental health care practitioners
What they need help with:
- NQTTCN is currently looking to expand the number of therapists who are members of their directory
- They haven’t posted about any events since 2020, and could use help expanding their reach through events engaging with the public
- Their Mental Health Fund currently helps a limited number of people access short-term therapy each year, and ongoing fundraising is needed to maintain and expand this resource
The Idea
I wanted to create an event that would simultaneously raise funds for QTPOC mental health care, and raise awareness about NQTTCN as a resource to help QTPOC therapists and clients find each other. Because music is also a medium for healing, self-expression, catharsis, and community, I decided to use music to highlight QTPOC voices, while providing material support to queer and trans people of color in need of mental health care. Using the existing platforms of local musicians is an effective strategy to get the word out about NQTTCN’s services, and motivate people to support their work.
Goals
- Raise funds to maintain and expand the impact of NQTTCN’s Mental Health Fund
- Recruit more Philadelphia-based QTPOC therapists into the NQTTCN directory
- Educate the public on NQTTCN’s advocacy work, and give people information on Philadelphia-based QTPOC therapists
- Gather Philadelphia QTPOC and their community to have fun, enjoy music, and learn about mental health resources
Process
Moodboards: I wanted the festival’s design to feel vibrant, exciting, and dynamic, and I also knew that type and photography would be key elements of the brand. My moodboards included bright, neon colors, experimental type treatments, collage-like use of photography, and designs layering type, imagery, and hand-drawn lines. Because Mental Noise focuses on people with specific overlapping identities, compositions with overlapping and intersecting elements were key.
Naming: This festival centers the intersecting experiences of people of color and queer & trans people; it also exists at the intersection of mental health and music. The name for this event needed to allude to the overlap between mental health care, self-expression through music, and the need for community care among QTPOC. Early name ideas used words referencing sound, color, emotion, thought, and healing. Ultimately, I chose “Mental Noise” because it references both mental health struggles, and the catharsis of processing emotions through music.
User Personas: To better understand the people this event would serve, I created three user personas: an artist performing at the event, a therapist interested in joining the NQTTCN network, and a festival attendee who both enjoys music, and wants to learn more about accessing therapy.
Sketches: Through my sketches of social media posts, deliverables, and storyboards for the event’s promotional video, several key brand elements emerged: smooth, hand-drawn lines contrasting with irregular, angular shapes, and bold typography arranged in repeating patterns.
Logo Development: Logo ideas for Mental Noise started in a hand-drawn style, but later pivoted to more geometric shapes inspired by the block shapes on a map of Clark Park.
Style Tile: Final brand elements include a vibrant color palette and 4-color gradient, angular trapezoid and rhombus shapes paired with flowing hand-drawn lines, geometric sans serif typefaces, collage-style grayscale photos layered with gradient colors, and specific photo treatments for featured artists and therapists.
Website
I built four pages for the Mental Noise website prototype: a homepage with event details, info on NQTTCN, previews of featured artists and therapists, and food vendors; an Artists page showing all ten artists’ photos, bios, and links to their websites; a Therapists page featuring four Philadelphia-based NQTTCN therapists; and a Tickets page for attendee registration.
Social Media
For the Mental Noise social media campaign, I designed a series of Instagram posts highlighting the artists and therapists participating in the event. I developed two different, yet harmonious visual styles to make posts about artists distinct from those about therapists. Instagram stories for Mental Noise take a more educational approach; in this example, a series of stories explains to therapists how to join the NQTTCN network.
Registration & Ticketing
Ticketing and registration for Mental Noise starts on the website’s Tickets page. Attendees have the option of purchasing a full day pass, or one of two half-day passes. In order to make the event financially accessible to all, those who cannot afford to donate can email the organizers for free admission. Visitors to the website can also donate passes to be claimed by those in need.
After registering, attendees receive an email with a mobile ticket to be scanned for entry to the venue. Color-coded wristbands indicate full-day versus half-day passes.
Deliverables
Additional deliverables for Mental Noise include t-shirts to be sold at the event as fundraising items, and posters for promoting the event in subway stations and other public areas.
Conclusion
This project was an opportunity to combine my background as a musician with my knowledge of design, while promoting a cause I care deeply about. The advocacy of the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network already has a profound impact on the lives of QTPOC in need of mental health care. By working on Mental Noise, I was able to imagine how collaboration with musicians and other creatives could help NQTTCN expand their reach even further. I chose to include real artists and therapists in this project, and using the photos and stories of actual people brought the festival to life in a way I could not have achieved with fictional personas. This made the project truly special to work on; thank you to everyone who participated.
Playlist
Listen to a playlist of featured artists on Apple Music.
Credits
Designer: MeiLi Carling
Instructor: Kelly Holohan, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University
Video Art Direction: Brian Cassidy, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University
Photography: NQTTCN, Lugubrious Bri, Megan Matuzak, Mario Carbal, Zoloo Brown, Juliette Rando, Marcus Maddox, Lumaya, Bob Sweeney, Lorien Lamarr, Savan DePaul, Senna Ahmad, Michael Galarraga, Mimiko Watanabe, Charles Tyson, Joshua Resnick, vm2002, FomaA, elnariz, Carlos David, Quality Stock Arts, fudio
Featured Artists: Shamir, Sonagi, Moor Mother, Sammus, Kilamanzego, Ramona, Lumaya, King Azaz, Enchanted Forest, Savan DePaul
Featured Therapists: Sonalee Rashatwar, Michael Galarraga, Charles Tyson, Mimiko Watanabe
Promo Video Music: Leaving the Body by Aye Nako
Sources
https://www.instagram.com/nqttcn/
https://www.talkspace.com/blog/mental-health-is-political/
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/10/health/people-of-color-mental-health-apps-wellness/
