Hugs from Donavon

Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Mental health issues are an illness, just like cancer, heart disease, etc. Unfortunately they are not as easily accepted or talked about. We must treat mental illness as any other disease that we battle to overcome. We don’t always win, and sometimes we lose without even knowing it was there.

Project Semicolon was created by suicide survivor, Amy Bleuel, when she encouraged other survivors to use the semicolon as a reminder that their story isn’t over yet. She chose the semicolon – a symbol used when an author could’ve ended their sentence, but chose not to – to represent the choice to continue your life when you were prepared to end it.

Our design combines these two important ideas. We originally layered a translucent white semicolon over dark grey text. When screen printed on a charcoal grey hoodie, the text becomes difficult to see, much like mental health issues. Over time we found more and more people wanting to proudly and boldly wear the words, so we offered the same design on different coloured fabrics so it would be easier to see.