Custom Illustrations for CPT Coach
I joined forces with Vertical: a studio based in Berkeley, California. Together we worked on this project owned and developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and created one seamless horizontal illustration transitioning smoothly through CPT Coach’s 13 levels, three onboarding illustrations, four icon buttons, and one app icon.
-
Who Is The App For?
CPT Coach is for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who are participating in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) with a professional mental healthcare provider. The app is not intended to be used as self-help without the guidance of a professional mental healthcare provider.
-
What Does It Do?
The app contains support materials for a complete course of CPT to help patients manage their treatment, including between-session assignments, readings, PTSD symptom monitoring, and mobile versions of CPT worksheets. The complete program is separated into 13 individual levels.
-
What Are The Main Challenges?
Come up with a positive and empowering way to portray the CPT user’s growth journey by creating a universe that flows smoothly from one level to the other but still works as a whole. Introduce new and exciting elements with each scene and preserve the design’s overall consistency.
Brainstorming & Sketching
For this project, Vertical approached me with an idea inspired by Jules Vernes’ Around the World in Eighty Days. They wanted me to take the user on a hot air balloon journey through Earth’s most memorable locations. The predefined style was simplistic and clean. We kicked off the design process with a couple of sketches showing the horizontal transition from one famous landmark to the other.
Iterations
VA liked the sketches but gradually drifted away from wanting to portray existent places. We wished to explore a more imaginative approach and to create a new world built solely for CPT Coach’s purposes. Instead of having the user guess each pre-existing location, this new direction would involve more imagination and would keep you guessing.
The Final Choice 🎯
This new direction was a winner. There was only one iteration I had to apply: change the landscapes' angle and perspective a bit so more emphasis would be on the hot air balloon taking the user on a journey through personal growth.
Digital
After nailing down the sketch, I started digitalizing the first three scenes. VA hadn’t yet chosen a palette, so I decided to go for a soft nature-inspired color scheme that eluded positivity and tranquility with the intent of applying any shade-related iterations they would have in mind later in the process. I followed the same approach to the icon buttons and designed simple placeholders that showed the general idea and balance of the elements.
Pushing Forward 🏃♀️
The concept was slowly beginning to take its final form, and more ideas regarding the color scheme and buttons emerged. VA wanted me to introduce blue & purple accents to the composition to make certain elements pop more on the warm canvas. They liked the style of the icons but wanted to see more visual examples they could choose from. I applied their changes and introduced three more levels to the mix.
Finally
The color scheme was finally on point, and I could proceed with the remaining seven levels. VA wanted me to show them a few more icon variations before making their final choice. Below you can see the complete horizontal composition of levels 1 to 13, how the transition takes place, and snaps of the various icon explorations we went through:
Onboarding
All that was left to complete now were the illustrations for the three simple steps of the onboarding process. With the majority of elements already designed, it was easy to create a composition showing the balloon taking off gradually and soaring high into the air. And voilà, we were finally finished! 🎈
“Mila is a great illustrator and a fantastic professional. She’s been able to understand the client’s needs and always delivers beautiful, meaningful material. She’s responsive, on time, and collaborative. A great asset for my company.“
— Giovanni Moraja
CEO
Vertical