Malika Akhiyara from Indonesia, a Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Professional Design student, titled her final project – a mental health awareness campaign - “Letters to my Anxious Self”.

She said the whole concept behind the awareness campaign revolves around art therapy and how it helped her communicate whenever she felt anxious.

Malika’s target audience are people dealing with mental illness, and her aim is to promote writing as a healthy outlet for them.

“Anxiety doesn’t have a cure and it is a very complex illness to overcome, especially with medication and therapy that comes with a huge price these days,” said Malika.

On her topic of choice, she said she drew inspiration from personal observations.

“People inspire me. I see different people from different backgrounds but at the end of the day, they are humans who feel the same things you’ve felt as well,” Malika added.

Challenges

Malika said among the challenges she faced was pitching her idea – both verbally and in written form.

Even harder was her attempt to graphically visualize emotions.

To overcome these challenges, Malika took her time with each title and researched how others’ artwork made her feel.

When she found something that resonated with her, she tried to incorporate the same emotions in her own project.

“I learned that communication is the core building block in developing a healthy relationship with yourself and others,” said Malika. 

Research was also a very important component, as she found that it defines the quality of one’s work, and it most certainly helped her develop ideas easily.

“To all aspiring students in this field, do your research and make sure to explore all the nooks and crannies,” Malika added.

Malika regarded Limkokwing University as diverse and colorful, which was one of the main reasons that influenced her to study here.

“People from of all walks of life come together at this University and I can’t stop thinking of how crazy those possibilities are and I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to study here,” said Malika.

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