Educational Content • Illustration • Document Design
As part of the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, the Injury Prevention Centre (IPC) provides injury prevention strategies to the public at large through education and research.
For this project, IPC sought to educate families about the symptoms of a concussion. The challenge was in presenting this content to audiences for whom English was a second language, as well as remote communities were literacy rates were lower. Our solution was to produce a highly illustrative document that relied on detailed and literal images, keeping text to a bare minimum.
It was a particularly fun challenge to represent abstract concepts such as “not feeling like myself” or “sleeping less than usual.” We used a saturated and lively colour palette to help draw readers in to a serious subject matter. IPC aims for representation in their teaching materials, so I integrated cultural and demographic diversity into my drawings.
For Poison Prevention Week, IPC commissioned me illustrate two detailed scenes of safety measures in play: child locks for cupboards, and supervision of small children using hand sanitizer. A major target audience for IPC’s educational materials is groups where English may be a second language; as such, the illustrations had to depict these scenes with great clarity and include minimal text.
When it was time to produce their annual report, the Injury Prevention Centre wanted to present their bullet list of highlights in infographic format, and have the piece work as a friendly intro to the organization. It was intended for the website, but we also created a convenient print format.
Using a sketch, I pitched a way of organizing the content so it could fit on one double-sided sheet – convenient to print if they wanted.
For complex layouts I sometimes show rough sketches beforehand; this helps the client and I agree on a general plan and avoid time-consuming rework.