Awkward Conversation Club is a project created by Michael Sandare at the University of Alberta. As the Undergraduate Board of Governors Representative, one of Michael’s initiatives was to provide students with an outlet to talk about mental health and the stigmas surrounding it. The catch was that students needed to do so in a safe manner — one that wasn’t threatening, harming to their health, and allowed them the physical space to do so without putting their safety at risk.

While I was initially brought on as a photographer and potential “interviewer” for the project, it became clear that I wouldn’t be able to commit to the initiative as much as I would have liked to. Before stepping out of the role, I introduced Michael to the UAlberta Photography Club (UAPC) and worked to make some promotional material that the UAPC would be able to use on their social channels to recruit photographers for the project.

The colours and designs were chosen to be warm and inviting — a change from the urban and portrait styles that the UAPC posts on their Instagram. As well, some of the promotional designs used UAlberta colours: while not explicitly a UAlberta initiative, it was important to recognize and acknowledge the university during the process. Doing so with the design was a harmless way to do this.

All layouts and designs were done in Adobe Illustrator.