First Episode Psychosis (FEP) affects about 100,000 adolescents and young adults in the U.S. each year. Yet, due to rampant misconceptions and stigmas around this condition, too many individuals go un- or under treated. A group of doctors, specialists, and advocates approached us to help them design and launch a new brand dedicated to improving awareness and overturning stigmas around FEP in Pennsylvania. After months of researching, conceptualizing, designing, and building, HeadsUp was born—a new beacon of hope for those struggling with their mental health.
We completed a robust project discovery to learn about psychosis, those affected by it, and the best way to encourage individuals to get help.
We crafted a new brand from the ground up, including a new name, mission, vision, values, tagline, logo, and exclusive custom illustrations.
We designed and built a website to serve as a digital home for the new brand, becoming a vehicle to grow HeadsUp’s notable mission.
We conducted interviews, ran surveys, analyzed search trends, performed secondary research, and had conversations with those who’ve experienced FEP.
Each bit of new information chipped away at the layer of stigma surrounding psychosis to reveal its reality. Just as you shouldn’t build a house on a shaky foundation, you shouldn’t build a brand on anything other than the truth.
A brand whose mission is to create a rising tide for mental wellness deserves an equally bright and positive name. The original project name was long and, as our research uncovered, carried connotations of addiction rehab. “HeadsUp” gestures to our focus on mental health, commands the audiences’ attention, and encourages a positive outlook, creating the ideal foundation for this brand and its mission to soar.
The logo we designed for HeadsUp highlights the role of conversation and open communication on mental health. The mark has a simple, modern design that can be adapted to multiple situations without losing its conceptual integrity. Positive dialogue starts here.
HeadsUp’s mission is not only to connect people with appropriate, evidence-based care, but to extinguish the stigma around mental health overall. Their impact begins and ends with a positive message: both a better life and a more understanding world are possible.
Bright, bold, creative, optimistic, professional: five adjectives that underpinned our choices of fonts and colors for the HeadsUp brand.
The workhorse – used as
a bold primary headline
Used sparingly for high-impact,
branded messaging
A friendly typeface for paragraphs
and long-form content
A little empathy goes a long way when creating an effective user experience. We worked closely with HeadsUp to document each audience’s specific journey through the site, ensuring they can quickly access the content they need without unnecessary roadblocks.
With so many diverse website goals, we approached the site architecture understanding that any unnecessary convolution could spell quick failure for our visitors.
Working closely with the HeadsUp team and our video partner, we provided creative direction and illustration assets for a short animated video aimed at helping individuals who’ve experienced psychosis and the people around them understand what it is, and why it’s important to get help early.
After learning of the program participants’ incredible creativity, we built a custom artwork gallery to showcase their work on the website, becoming a testament to hope even in the midst of a difficult and confusing experience.
Though a worthy thing to strive for, ADA compliance can sometimes hamstring a web design due to added visual restrictions and guidelines. Not here. By building the brand from the beginning with accessibility in mind, we were able to create a site that is both stunning and Double-A ADA compliant.
