Stress + anxiety guide
for COVID
print design + illustration
The Stress and Anxiety Guide for COVID is an interactive self-help resource for adults who want to understand and manage stress and anxiety more effectively during the COVID pandemic. This is an iteration on a resource previously developed by Psychologist and Design Researcher Lutza Ireland to address the need for more visually engaging and extensive paper-based resources in clinical practice, hence the humble interactive PDF format.
Initial versions of the resource were designed collaboratively with end-users, exploring different visual approaches to expressing complex emotions and experiences. I was approached by Lutza Ireland and Dr Cedric Chu (a General Practitioner) to design the final guide – a 114-page, fully illustrated interactive PDF that pairs actionable tools with digestible explanations for stress and anxiety. Learn more at:
Since its launch, the guide has been promoted and published by Kids Helpline, a national telephone and online counselling service for young people aged 5-25. It has been awarded GOLD at the Sydney DRIVENxDESIGN awards for Social Design, as well as two Gold awards at the Digital Health Awards: Book for Consumers and Book for Health Professionals.
Choose your own adventure
Despite the lo-fi modality, the experience of the guide was carefully designed for readers to tailor their exploration of information and tools to the way stress and anxiety might be manifesting in their lives. The guide is divided into three modules, combining general information surrounding stress and anxiety with specific exercises to identify the reader's unique experiences and tools to tackle them.
Lead Author + Designer: Lutza Ireland Author: Dr Cedric Chu Design + Illustration: Jessica Cheers