Keralite designs a message on caring for the mentally ill

Shyama, 26, wins accolades for novel representation of English alphabet in a global project

Shyama had taken part in a global online project 36 Days of Type; two of her works, the letter J, on the perils of being judgemental, and Q, on quack therapy.

In five years, 36 Days of Type, an internet-based project which brings together designers, illustrators, graphic designers and such creative souls across the globe on a common platform, has earned a huge fan following. The project was launched by Nina Sans and Rafa Goicoechea, two graphic designers based in Barcelona, setting daily design challenges.

This year, a 26-year-old Mumbai-based designer from Kerala and a postgraduate from IIT Bombay, Shyama V.S., has emerged one of the celebrated artistes under the project, with her creative interpretation of letters in English alphabet.

The concept of 36 Days of Type is simple: 36 days correspond with the 26 letters in the English alphabet plus 10 single digit numerals.

From amongst the hundred thousands of entries, some 35 to 50 impressive ones get shortlisted every year, to be celebrated in the design world. Every day, a candidate has to come up with a creative interpretation of one letter and upload it on Instagram. The challenge ran from March 29 this year.

Turning point

What made Shyama’s works special was not just their creative design, but the story that accompanied them, with mental health as the abiding theme. She comes from an all-doctor family at Kozhikode. “My mother is from Kuthiravattom (where the oldest mental health centre in Kerala is located) and as a child I remember that she was the butt of many jokes. But my view of the world of the mentally ill changed when my mother was posted at the hospital there and I began accompanying her there,” says Shyama.

But it was her experience with patients’ rehabilitation at NIMHANS, where her elder sister is a psychiatrist, that changed her perspective about how the mentally ill should be cared for.

‘A’ for awareness

“When someone makes cruel jokes about the mentally ill, it is because they have not seen what I have seen. When I started on the 36 days’ project, the heartening response on social media kept me going,” she says.

Her ‘A’ was about awareness of mental health; B, burden of care, C caregiver education and so on ... Q spoke about quackery and magic remedies .. X for experience sharing and she wrapped up the series with Z for the zzzz.. or sleep.

Some 8,000 entries were being submitted daily globally and for a designer, nothing is more gratifying that being part of that elite talent pool.

Shyama hopes that she can plan an exhibition of her A to Z series of graphic designs soon so that the message on mental health can go out to people.

“If my series prompts even one person to think differently about mental illnesses, it would be a great reward,” she says.