Leading youth mental health service, ReachOut has been recognised in the 2026 Australian Good Design Awards.
At a ceremony held in Sydney last week, ReachOut’s Trending Thoughts campaign received a prestigious 2026 Australian Good Design Award for Best in Class in the Communication Design Advertising and Campaigns category.
Trending Thoughts is a youth mental health campaign that turns private worries into shared recognition. Young people search ReachOut with questions they feel like they can’t say out loud such as ‘Am I gay?’, ‘Will I ever be loved?’, ‘What if I fail?’.
The campaign was designed by Yonder Creative, a brand and advertising studio.
Head of Growth Marketing at ReachOut, Neall Kriete, said the award was an honour.
“Forty per cent of young people experience mental health difficulties and suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia.
“Early intervention prevents youth challenges from compounding. By showcasing shared experiences, this campaign breaks the sense of isolation young people feel, reassuring them that their concerns are common and help is accessible.
“This award is a wonderful celebration of our decade-long collaboration with Yonder Creative. Their deep understanding of ReachOut and ability to create concepts that connect with young people have made them an invaluable partner for ten years. We are thrilled to accept this award together,” she said.”
The Australian Good Design Awards are Australia's longest-running international design awards, for excellence in design, innovation and impact. This year’s Awards were presented under the theme Design that Leads and celebrated the critical role of design in navigating complexity, driving innovation and creating positive change.
Jury comments:
“The jury recognises this campaign for its emotionally resonant approach to youth mental health communication, transforming private worries into shared recognition through thoughtful design. The visual language, featuring close-up portraiture, restrained art direction and direct typography creates a calm, non-judgemental space that helps young people feel seen and understood. The Jury was impressed by the strategic use of contextual triggers and real search queries to deliver timely, relevant messaging across multiple channels. This work demonstrates strong social value through its ability to reduce stigma and support help-seeking behaviour, while the early performance results indicate meaningful commercial impact. The Jury commends the team for creating a systematic, ethically rigorous campaign that sets a higher standard for communication design in this category.
