Ellie Ridsdale What are you waiting for?
Ellie Ridsdale graduated from London Royal College of Art. One of her first projects out of education was exploring the implication of creative accessible design and its effects on social change. Her job, alongside a researcher form the British Heart foundation was to encourage local communities to peruse a more active lifestyle in an effort to reduce the risk of heart disease. A tough project for sure, but one that if successful would be greatly fulfilling for herself and the people the message reached. The initial concept photographically depicted the rush and frustration on commuting via the tube and other public transport. However the message was not clear enough, lacked impact and the audience simply did not get it. The new direction seen here was far more to the point.
The interesting thing about trying to help people is that while a designer may want their work to be conceptually thought provoking, there is always a risk that the audience will simply not understand it or give it the time to understand. Therefore the clarity of communicating a message when trying to engage an audience is of upper-most importance, the aesthetic should aim to re-enforce, not entertain the message. The placement of the message too is key to making sure the message is heard. In this occasion the posters were placed in hospitals, dietician venues, retailers and a number of other site specific locations. As well as this there was an effort to sign-post walkways in local parks, encouraging people to go on their own walks, and not just to and from work.