link: https://u.osu.edu/evolutionoftreatmentformentallydisabled/
I made my website an informative website about the Evolution of Treatment for the Mentally Disabled. I chose this topic because it is something that has always been important to me. I did extensive research on this topic last year and discovered a lot of shocking facts. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I was completely taken aback to learn that the treatment for the mentally disabled has a lot of major flaws and has a lot of work that needs to be done. Everyone just assumes that the system has gotten better throughout time, but its only really improved for 40% of the population with a mental disability. The other 60% are school drop-outs, homeless, unemployed, and thrown into jails. 90% of the suicides committed are because of a mental illness. Suicide prevention is also something that I am passionate about because it has largely affected my life. I am now a Gatekeeper for Suicide Prevention, and I make it my personal goal to make a difference. By creating this website and video, my goal is that people will view them and become more informed on the facts, and hopefully try to make a difference like I am.
For the design choices of my website, I tried to keep the over all feeling more dark and sad, to get across the point of how serious this topic is. Most of the pictures I used on my website are in black and white, and all of the images I used in the video I created are in black and white with sad music playing in the background. I also included a lot of text to make the website as informative as possible. For the pictures themselves, I tried to make them capture the viewer’s attention, or maybe even trigger a memory or make them feel connected in some way.
The making process was quite fun. I photoshopped five of the pictures on my website. The first one is the banner on the home page. I found a picture of sad man which I then edited to more of what I wanted. I made the black and whites contrast more, and added more detail to his face and blurred out everything else. I also added the text, “From skull drills to happy pills” because my website is about the evolution of treatment for the mentally disabled, and I think that this quote captures it well. For the next edited picture, I chose one of a boy. I increased the contrasts and made the picture seem more dark and sad. I also added the text “79% of children with mental disorders never receive treatment”. I wanted to make this picture send a message and I think it is very effective. For the next picture I edited, it says, “Over criminalized”. The picture originally was only gray and slightly red. I thought this one should be a little more colorful, so I added a lot of different colors to make it grab people’s attention. I then increased the saturation to make things brighter and bolder. I wanted this image to stand out to get across the importance of the message. The last two images that I edited are of two men. I chose them to represent the homeless population. I made their faces more detailed, added more contrast, and changed the colors of their eyes, one with blue and one with brown. I think all of these images are really powerful and help to inform viewers. To make my video, I just included a lot of surprising statistics with the combination of images of people, to make a strong statement that change needs to be made.