Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire
On Show 2020
Holly Smyth

Ellie is a not-for-profit organisation, funded by the HSE, helping Irish dementia family caregivers. They understand the caregiver, their needs and their importance in dementia care. Ellie’s job is to support those who are supporting others everyday by guiding them through each stage; early, middle and late. More than half of caregivers feel overwhelmed by their duties at some point along their caregiving journey and this can have an impact on their mental, emotional and physical well-being. Ellie works to create long-term support and practical solutions from diagnosis to prevent caregivers from becoming burnt out. Burnout is a risk to both carer and patient so Ellie’s focus is to lessen this risk by providing a comprehensive system of care for dementia in Ireland. Ellie’s services include: an overall identity and printed promotion aimed at representing, reaching out to and supporting caregivers; a website which consists of an online forum for caregivers to connect and share information, a questionnaire to help caregivers identify if they’re feeling burnt out and a pack ordering form; three preparation packs which are printed and delivered to caregivers at each stage and, a support for caregivers campaign with printed ephemera.

Areas of interest: Visual identity and branding, editorial design and art direction, image-making and illustration, service design

Dissertation title: A New Form of Storytelling: The Power of The Visual in Graphic Journalism