The Museum of Meaningful Moments is a community wellbeing project that invites people to respond to questions or prompts about their everyday experiences in times of change. It has been designed so that people of all ages and from all walks of life can share their experiences, observations, insights, and stories in whatever form they feel most comfortable with. The audience is encouraged to participate by responding to ‘prompts’, they can take part by sending a photo, video, some artwork, or something completely different. 

The research surrounding this project contributes towards the development of an ecosystem of interconnected and community-led restoration networks to radically reconceive how ‘health’ and ‘ wellness’ are conceptualised and addressed within contemporary practices and systems in Aotearoa. With a growing database of stories/’data’ the MMM can operate as a research tool to engage communities in similar conversations about what community health and wellness mean to them, whether that be via the online platform or through physical events using the submissions as critical artefacts to spark discussion.

The summer students managed the MMM social media including Instagram, Twitter and MMM’s official website to grow new followers and maintain engagement with the existing online community. The management includes archiving submissions in the online museum/website and posting material as it is submitted, as well as coming up with prompt ideas from the summer of 2021 to the end of 2022 and assisting with illustrations to further explain the prompt and encourage participation.

They were also involved in creating a book template for a future publication that showcases a curation of the best submissions, and creating content for upcoming events and activities. This included designing a poster containing relevant information about MMM and explaining artefacts that’ll be used in the exhibition, as well as stickers, postcards, and coming up with ideas for the exhibition display. 

Here’s what the students had to say about their experience:

Braidie - "Through this summer studentship I explored different ways to better connect and engage with a community of people, improved my illustration and design skills working on illustrative content and poster design for the MMM social media ‘prompt’s and exhibition collateral. Through the use of social media, nostalgia, illustration and prompts that encourage reflection, my team and I were able to gain valuable insight into what topics people respond to, and what topics gain less attention from the audience. These insights will help us to understand how to better connect and engage with the community in an online forum moving forward."

Sonia - "This summer studentship helped me have a deep dive into the process of managing social media account and interacting with the online community. It was an amazing experience to work along with people that share the same passion and the staff from Good Health Design are very supportive of our design decisions and do their best to help our ideas come true. It also helped to improve my creative thinking and design skill to be one step closer and prepared for the creative industry."

Sarah - "This studentship has mainly expanded my thinking surrounding content that elevates community engagement through managing social media and coming up with ideas for events. Working with Sonia and Braidie was an enjoyable experience, despite not being able to meet in person majority of the time due to COVID. The Good Health Design team was supportive throughout the process in giving us valuable feedback which helped us move forward even through challenges. This experience has allowed me to develop my skills both as a designer and as a person, and I am grateful to have been given this opportunity."