Design study, Public Safety
Bikes and Big Rigs
A self-initiated design study: Help riders stay out of truck blind spots and remind truck drivers to look for bikes on harbor streets.
These are self-initiated studies, not client work. Each is a fictional campaign; none was commissioned by, produced for, or approved by any agency or organization.
The brief
- Line of business
- Public Safety
- Audience
- Bike commuters and riders who share the industrial streets near the harbor with heavy trucks.
- Objective
- Help riders stay out of truck blind spots and remind truck drivers to look for bikes on harbor streets.
- When and where
- Every ride, every shift, Harbor truck routes
Concept A: Everyone Gets Home 12
Speaks to riders and drivers as people with someone waiting at home, so safety is shared, not blamed. Type style.
Concept B: The Mirror Rule 12
Teaches the most useful rule in one line: if you cannot see the driver's mirrors, the driver cannot see you. Scene style.
Concept C: Wide Turn Warning 12
Borrows the voice of the warning sticker on every trailer, turning familiar fine print into a line riders remember. Grid style.
Spanish adaptation of Everyone Gets Home 12
The first direction adapted rather than translated: the headline, supporting line, and call to action rewritten in Spanish, with the layout reflowed for the longer text. Type style.
What was checked
Every one of the 48 pieces was checked as it was composed. The lowest text contrast measured anywhere in this study is 5.87 to 1, against a minimum of 4.5 to 1. Type sizes are in the units of each format: pixels for digital formats, and for print, units of the drawing at the sizes shown.
| Format | Minimum type size | Smallest set | Lowest contrast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poster, 18 by 24 inches | 11 | 13.2 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Flyer, letter | 11 | 13.5 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Social story, vertical | 13 | 13.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Retractable banner | 10 | 10.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Display ad, 160 by 600 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Social post, square | 13 | 13.2 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Display ad, 300 by 250 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Postcard, 6 by 4 inches | 13 | 13.2 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Event cover | 12 | 12.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Billboard | 12 | 12.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Email header | 11 | 11.0 | 5.87 to 1 |
| Display ad, 728 by 90 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.87 to 1 |