An ITV Creates Collaboration by MAMIMU & Dr Tara Swart | Mental Health Awareness Week

This month’s artist is June Mineyama-Smithson, an artist and graphic designer known as MAMIMU. MAMIMU is collaborating with Dr Tara Swart, a medical doctor and Neuroscientist. To mark Mental Health Awareness Week, their mission is to create a piece of art that brings happiness and optimism to the nation through the TV screen.

In order to do this, their objective is to find the optimum optimism by combining MAMIMU’s bold colours and shapes and Dr Tara’s application of neuroscience. The concept is to take the viewer on a journey that induces happy hormones in the brain and therefore, the artwork functions as a happiness and resilience top up for the viewer.

To create the ident, MAMIMU and Dr Tara have combined a physical ITV logo with a virtual environment, where motion graphics will be played and interact with the logo. The motiongraphics displayed on the LED screen environment, are reflected on to the logo’s shiny surface – depicting how the mind processes external influences.

There are 3 scenes being displayed in these idents. The first is titled eternal sunshine of a spotless mind, is symbolised by rain drops turning into ripples of sunshine - this represents the brain’s ability to turn negative thoughts into positive. The second scene is the well of infinite possibility representing the infinite possibility of the brain – this is symbolised by drops of falling lights creating a well of infinity. The third scene is an upward movement of rising stars, these shining lights signify a bright future and the message to the brain is about rising to greater heights and achieving your dreams.

Both artist and collaborator think it’s important to highlight Mental Health Awareness Week as mental health doesn’t distinguish between people, it can happen to anyone. They hope this striking, extended reality ident will be a mind-expanding, beacon of optimism for the viewer this May.