THIS MINUTE MATTERS

The Wyoming Institute of Population Health came to West Edge with one goal in mind: to share a message of hope and resources to at-risk populations and friends and families of those populations in Laramie County in Wyoming. 

Wyoming ranks as #1 in the United States with the highest suicide rates.  

The team believed that we needed to come up with a concept to help reduce the stigma around mental health, and encourage people to seek help. We thought the best way to do this was by educating people about the signs of mental health issues and suicide risk, and inform them about the resources available to them in their own community.

This Minute Matters plays off the idea that every minute counts when it comes to getting help, and that 60 seconds is all you need to connect with resources that could help you or a loved one in a difficult time.

Once the concept was approved, I moved into creating a mood board, to get a general direction for the look and feel that would help convey this message of hope, support, and connection. I thought it was important to stick with a serious tone, but bring bright colors into the design that really played into the inclusivity and the positive message we were trying to convey.

The main subjects of the campaign can be seen looking upwards, towards a graphical representation of sun rays; or rays of hope that are shining down on them. In animated ads, the subject starts out small, in the cooler blue and purple tones—representing the person being in a depressed state and feeling small in the situation they are in. As the animation progresses, the subject starts to get larger and the colors begin to shift to the warmer yellow and orange tones—representing the person growing in confidence and getting to a happier place.  

We increased suicide awareness in Laramie County by delivering this targeted content to 40% of the county’s population. This campaign had 1,181,074 digital ad impressions over a 3 month period.