A Graphic Designer’s Brother Dies in a Plane Crash

Dana Shields, a graphic designer in Menlo Park, California, has used her design sense to help herself heal from the unexpected death of her youngest brother, Jeb, in 1991. Jeb was a Navy pilot who died in a classified mid-air collision just days after his 26th birthday. The classified nature of the death — and, thus, the slow trickle of it’s information to light — made it all the harder for Dana and her three siblings to grieve.

Over the years, Dana was experiencing a wide variety of erratic feelings and moods. One minute, she would completely lose her desire to even exist on Earth; the next everything would be ok.

“One minute, she would completely lose her desire to even exist on Earth; the next everything would be ok.”

Dana began to understand that her reactions were not unusual at all, but a part of the nonlinear stages of grief. So, she started to write and express her emotions. First, she wrote a book chronicling all the memories of her brother — that way, she would never forget them. This exercise evolved into the creation of a kind of accordion booklet that served as a guide for not only herself, but for others to heal by.

Dana shared the most intimate story of her experience throught he power of the color spectrum, which reflects the stages of grief. She begins with hot pink to represent the shock of a loss, continues with red for anger, then orange for denial, etc., until the reader reaches blue: the colour for resolution.

“Dana shared the most intimate story of her experience throught he power of the color spectrum, which reflects the stages of grief. “

The accordion booklet offers Dana’s personal recommendations on the back of each page, stating the ways she helped herself through her own grief. Suggestions such as, “take a long walk, soak in a hot bath, plant a redwood tree observe its growth over the years” were her ways of healing. She has had others keep her booklet at their bedside table to read it day by day as they move in and out of the various stages of grief — truly serving as a companion in the process. Interestingly, she also finds that men experience tremendous accesibility in using the booklet as a tool; they can relate to it very easily because of their tendancy to have more difficulty in dealing with (and expressing) their emotions as they grieve.

“Interestingly, she also finds that men experience tremendous accesibility in using the booklet as a tool.”

Having the power to pair words to our emotions is something that escapes us even when we’re not grieving. So, in the stages of grief following the loss of a loved one, it thus becomes all the more crucial to address. Dana’s work accomplishes this task with beauty, grace and sensitivity. We believe that her booklet would be a great gift for someone who has experienced a loss.

You can purchase Dana’s booklet on Etsy.

Read More: Stories of those who’ve used their talents to heal from loss:

• The Ephemeral Art of Tracey Kessler: Grieving and the Painting Process
• Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto aid the artist’s healing through grief
• Coping with Immense Grief through Art