OUGD603 - Hidden Figures - Evaluation

Overall, we feel that the final poster designs were really effective and portrayed the message we wanted to get across.

The simplistic nature of the designs means it is clutter-free and easy to engage with. We have touched on the struggles faced through autism by using disjointed text, but not so much that it is illegible.

The typeface chosen, Integral CF Bold, is strong and clear, ideal for putting across an important message. The capitalized nature adds an element of formality and seriousness to the design.

The disjointed text is used to show the difficulties people with autism face with reading and writing. Often people with autism struggle to read, and the words can become jumbled up on the page. We wanted to represent this by using a disjointed style - this was harder to read and uncomfortable on the eye, but this is the effect we wanted to achieve.

The large smiley face plastered over the text is a metaphor for the idea that autism is a hiding disability. The signs and symptoms are placed on a layer underneath the face, with the face on top ‘masking/hiding’ the true reality underneath. Many cases of autism go undiagnosed, especially in children, so the idea is to highlight the fact that deeper problems can be going on under the surface, behind a seemingly ‘normal’, happy person.

The text used is minimal - there are only three bits of information included on the posters. One being the symptoms, one being the strapline/tagline for the campaign ‘autism is a hidden disability’, and the other being a website address to visit for further information. We wanted the strapline to be simple, clear and hard-hitting. The idea is that people will see the graphics above, then read the strapline below that gives them a clear and concise message - autism isn’t a disability you can always see.

Given more time, myself and Dani would have liked to have developed this a bit further, expanding the campaign. We would have liked to have produced some other materials such as flyers and information books, even potentially a website - however due to the heavily research-led nature of this brief, we simply did not have the time.

We received some really great feedback on the posters, and people commented on how simple yet hard-hitting they were. Overall we feel we have answered the brief really well, despite swaying away from the original RSA brief and making it into our own. We felt that we were able to produce a better, more rounded outcome by using our own take on the brief after some in-depth research.