Design Challenge and Design Ideas

I started this project as a form of Art Therapy to better help me cope with a sudden onset of medical problems. It is important for me to capture a *moment in time* in each illustration in order to properly depict the journey of someone experiencing chronic pain. I use delicate lines and a bright colour palette to balance out the weighty themes in my work. Understandably people do not tend to like being confronted with their pain so finding a way to touch on this topic without making the audience *turn away* is something I need to consider in each diary entry I create, while still respecting the fact that I started this project to help *myself* to see a way through *my own* darkness.

How the brief was fulfilled

My Chronic Pain Diary was created first and foremost as a form of self therapy and in that way I met my own brief, but it was also created to shine a light on life with chronic pain for those close to me to feel connected to how I was coping. By sharing it through social media and through its own website I have reached a further audience that have connected with the content, theme, colour balance and concept in each entry. Chronic pain is a greatly misunderstood topic and most of us are guilty of being ignorant to life with constant pain. This project has created that awareness, and it is an original way of communicating a further understanding of the topic. I am taking full advantage of the concept that *a picture paints a thousand words.*