OVERVIEW
Loneliness is a growing problem among young adults-- specifically college students. Students are struggling to create deep and meaningful relationships with their peers and are feeling a lack of community. Some initial hypotheses include that increased use of social media is making it harder to create deep friendships from a lack of face to face interactions, difficulty for students to get past surface level friendships, and because of our individualistic culture that can lessen the need for community.
RESEARCH
Through 15 interviews with college students, personal experience, and in-context immersion through blogs, I learned more about the problem of loneliness. I found that many of the interviewees said social media makes them feel disconnected and that they think it's easy to make friends in college, but hard to make meaningful friendships. I also found that a contributor to some types of loneliness can relate to a lack of intentional friendships. I collected all of the data and wrote them down on post-it notes to rearrange them into categories of emerging insights. These include making meaningful relationships, being busy/staying active, creating deeper connections, the importance of community, and being intentional about growing friendships.
SYNTHESIS
ORGANIZED DATA INSIGHTS
PROBLEM DEFINITION STATEMENT
IDEATION
I created 30 sketches of possible ways for students to be intentional with one another. Then, I narrowed it down to the top four ideas. The four initial creative concepts consist of an intentional kit, a conversational walk event, a gift giving & writing event, and an app to help students be more intentional. After, I created a prototype of the intentional kit and its possible deliverables. With the main idea in mind, I brainstormed and made many refinements to finalize the project. I created three mood boards: blossoming, warm & friendly, and intentional. The direction I took was mostly warm, friendly, and intentional.
30 SKETCHES OF IDEAS
TOP FOUR IDEAS
PROTOYPE
BRAINSTORMING & REFINEMENTS
DIRECTION
I created three mood boards: blossoming, warm & friendly, and intentional. The direction I took was mostly warm, friendly, and intentional. The tone is warm and welcoming while the color palette is fun and friendly. The typography is honest and intentional, and the graphics have a sense of community and connection.
INTENTIONAL MOOD BOARD
WARM & FRIENDLY MOOD BOARD
BRAND GUIDELINES
EXECUTION
The project is called Gather! Gather creates personal kits for all types of college students to do with others or individually. These kits give students ways to be more intentional with one another through thoughtful conversation, activities, and intentional communication. There are four kits-- for new friends, close friends, small groups, and individuals. Each kit has an envelope and letter set, conversational questions tailored to its specific kit, and a bucket list of choice. The individuals kit has an additional piece of prompt cards. A website is used to advertise and shop the kits.
CLOSE FRIENDS KIT
NEW FRIENDS KIT
INDIVIDUALS KIT
SMALL GROUP KIT
Each kit holds the different items and has its specific pattern shown on the outside of the box. The kits are made out of foldable cardboard boxes and include the wordmark on top.
Each of the kit's specific patterns are also shown on the inside of the box and the items that come with it.
Each kit has an envelope and letter set that corresponds with the kit's pattern. These are to encourage reoccurring communication and intentionality without technology.
There are multiple bucket list categories to choose from in each kit to encourage spending time with one another through activities. These include state parks, coffee shops, foodies, variety, etc.
EXAMPLE OF NEW FRIENDS CONVERSATIONAL QUESTIONS
Sets of meaningful questions tailored to each of the kits to encourage intentionality through conversation. Each kit has different questions tailored to the user(s). For example, the close friends kit focuses on deepening friendships through more challenging questions, while the new friends kit is more about getting to know each other. The cards are 2x3" so that they are easy to carry around and use whenever.
PROMPT CARDS
Prompt cards are available for students to use in the individuals kit to give students ways to be intentional with others if they do not have a specific person or group to do so with.
FREE PRINTABLE BUCKET LIST
FREE PRINTABLE QUESTION CARDS
FRONT OF FREE PRINTABLE QUESTION CARDS
BACK OF FREE PRINTABLE QUESTION CARDS
Free prints are available on the websites for students to download and print. Students can fill out their own bucket lists or cut out their own conversational cards.
SOLUTION
College students need ways to be intentional with others because feelings of loneliness may be from a lack of deep relationships and truly feeling known. These various kits give college students ways to be intentional with others through thoughtful conversation, fun activities, and intentional communication.
