Just-launched publication The Mind Map wants to promote "a new normal" in mental health

The Mind Map is a new initiative that seeks to “promote a new normal” in an age of increasing mental health problems across the United Kingdom.

Described by its founders as an “innovative mental health hub”, Liverpool-based Mind Map offers practical advice on how young people (defined as those between 16-30) can get access to subsidised counselling and free mental health support services, as well as an online publication which shares the stories of musicians and athletes who have been affected by mental health problems in their lives and careers.

Founder Phillip Bridges tells It’s Nice That that the project is born of his own direct experiences in the area: “I experienced quite a bit of OCD and anxiety as a young person – but attending a suburban comp in the 90s, it wasn’t really recognised,” he says. “Once I got treatment as an adult, I started to think about how I could align my writing background with a desire to help young people access mental health services.”

Philip says that the platform has two major aims running through the heart of the operation: to normalise mental health problems, and to give people access to services that can provide help, support, and treatment.

“We wanted our visual identity to reflect the fact that as part of our uncovering of the wellbeing habits of creatives, we have interviewed over 100 musicians, including Black Lips, Belle & Sebastian, The Big Moon and Skinny Pelembe,” Philip says. “We were lucky enough to work with Bella Union’s in house designer Luke Jarvis who does loads of stuff for their acts such as Beach House, The Flaming Lips and Father John Misty.”

Evidently aware of the fact that any new publication entering what is a (necessarily) increasingly busy field has to grab a potential reader’s attention, Philip notes that getting Luke on board was of vital importance. “We were such fans of Luke’s work that the briefing process was really smooth,” he tells us. “We literally asked for the designs to look responsible and authoritative yet youth led and he nailed it. Luke handled all the art direction, bringing in his housemate and skateboard designer Tom Trapmore to create some of the illustrations.”

You can visit and read The Mind Map yourself here.