Sitting in the minor injuries unit at our local casualty department recently, waiting for my other half to have his swollen ankle x-rayed, I found myself intrigued by some of the public health information on display and the apparent lack of design aesthetic involved.
This one leaflet in particular caught my eye. I presume that the existence of this leaflet means that sadly, someone has deemed it necessary to inform the general public that ‘It’s NOT OK to SHAKE babies’.
The fact that we need to convey such messages is horrific, but when there is a need, then it should be done well and with sensitivity. Unfortunately for this particular piece of communication, the image used on the front cover is quite bizarre and completely dilutes the seriousness of the message. I am not sure I have ever seen such a strange use of ‘cut and paste’ before, or indeed such poor typography.
Serious messages should be conveyed in a serious fashion – good design can help to do this and ensure that the final communication is received in the way it was intended. Healthcare information often requires sensitivity and sometimes it needs to be straight talking – but either way, there is no real excuse for poor design that only serves to detract from the message.
Bizarrely, only a few days later I received an email from a friend who had been given a leaflet by an NHS physiotherapist, who was providing treatment for his sore knee. The leaflet was full of handy exercise hints and tips, including some rather amusing illustrations created in a style reminiscent of pre-war Britain.
So much for modern medicine eh?
Does the NHS have an image problem? I think that it probably does…
