FIRST AID MANUAL

C STUDIO III FALL 2018

maddy cha
maddy cha
Sep 2, 2018 · 6 min read

Objective

  • To gain an understanding of formal systems as an expressive component of communication.
  • To exercise various modes of critical thinking and formalized play in an effort to find new meaning for a given text.
  • To gain an understanding of relational typographic systems, affordances, channels and medium.
  • To develop a system-based approach in order to learn how grids, composition and multi-page applications work together.
  • To further develop an ability to generate ideas and concepts through brainstorming and sketching.
  • To develop skills in articulating and documenting your own design concepts.
  • To utilize formal compositional structures and fundamental typographic principles in creating a final deliverable that is clear and informative.
  • To learn to create style-sheets in order to systematically manage large bodies of text across platforms.

8.28.18 | INTRODUCTION

We started this project by making grids with band-aids. While I initially had trouble with this concept, I found that just experimenting with a bunch of different concepts. It was interesting to see the patterns and colors of each of the different band-aids overlap and create contrast.

grid explorations

8.29.18 | TYPE & GRID EXPLORATIONS

In order to begin working on my pages, I started by looking at different typefaces I might use for my final project. I mainly focused on sans serif fonts because I thought that they were more friendly and approachable to read as opposed to some serif fonts.

type explorations

It was hard to settle on one singular type family, but in the end I decided to go with Libre Franklin. I thought that it invoked its own personality without being too expressive/strong that it would take away from the subject material.

I decided to finalize two different compositions, and from there I played with different methods of cropping. I made the images gray scale and increased the contrast of the images so that it would be more evident where grid lines should lie.

bandaid compositions

While I was still not 100% decided on a given composition, I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to lay out my grid.

8.30.18 | ROLEPLAY EXERCISE

To get a better sense of the information being utilized, we split off into groups and focused on specific scenarios described in the manual. This allowed us to hone in on which pieces of information should be emphasized or re-ordered, and hinted at which sorts of formats for the manual that would/wouldn’t work based on setting, audience, and use.

My group decided to look into frostbite, and we pretended to be clinicians treating a patient with frostbite.

We faced the issue that the injured patient would probably be in a harsh/cold climate, and as clinicians, we would not be able to immediately treat them in an office setting. We rationalized that we would want to have a portable version of the manual, so that we could take it while going to rescue the patient.

further analysis

This led us to outline some conditions, such as having to bring the manual outside of the clinic. Thinking this specifically gave me ideas as to how I wanted to present the information as a whole, and what sort of information I should focus on.

9.1.18 | TYPESETTING

After the roleplaying exercise, I decided that I wanted my manual to be more portable than a letter sized packet (as I found it hard to find information as it is in the current state). I started by printing out a few spread layouts in different sizes to see what I found to be easy to hold and flip through.

possible sizes

I began working on a 3.5 x 5" page layout, but found that it was impossible to fit all of the content considering the constraints of the project. I then moved on to a 6 x 4" layout, because I found it easier to work with a horizontal layout. I began working with the longer sections of information (i.e. eye injuries, fever) as a worst case scenario before moving on to the “easier” sections.

6 x 4"

Unfortunately, I had misread the instructions, and believed that the constraint was 16 spread maximum as opposed to the actual 16 page constraint. Because of this, I ended up going past the maximum in order to fit all of my information. I decided to increase the page size to 7 x 6" in order to fit all of the information needed.

7 x 6"

With this new layout, no single section of information took up over a page of space. I was also able to place multiple sections on a single page to make up for the fact that there are 18 sections for a 16 page restraint.

9.4.18 | FINALIZING A CONCEPT

Although I still had some work to do in terms of deciding on a solidified topic, I decided to work with the content a bit more in different layouts and sizes in order to get a better feel for it. I knew that I still wanted to work with the constraint of having a smaller sized manual, but I played with the layout and orientation a bit more as I brainstormed a concept.

vertical format

In the end, I decided that I needed to work more on solidifying my concept. I decided to look into the use of humor, and how it affect both the content and design of my manual.

After doing some research, I found that the use of humor in hospital/first-aid based situations actually proved to have a positive impact on the victims and patients. With this in mind, I decided that I wanted to make a fun, light-hearted version of my original manual.

I switched to using Avenir Next as I found it was a more friendly appearing font, and matched the style I was aiming for with this new concept. I also added color and visuals (prematurely) to enhance the feel of the type.

first aid for dummies
maddy cha

Written by

maddy cha

cmu school of design 2020

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