Design study, Public Safety
Cool Your Coals
A self-initiated design study: Get fire ring users to put fires out with water and never bury hot coals in the sand.
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
- Beachgoers and families who use the beach fire rings for bonfires and cookouts on summer evenings.
- Objective
- Get fire ring users to put fires out with water and never bury hot coals in the sand.
- When and where
- Every evening, all summer, At every beach fire ring
Concept A: Barefoot Tomorrow 12
Shows the next morning, when kids run barefoot over sand that hides buried coals, to make the risk real. Type style.
Concept B: Firelight Method 12
Teaches the three-step method in big, simple graphics anyone can follow by firelight. Scene style.
Concept C: The Sand Myth 12
Busts the common belief that sand puts a fire out, with a line that sticks. Grid style.
Spanish adaptation of Barefoot Tomorrow 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 5.19 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 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Flyer, letter | 11 | 13.5 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Social story, vertical | 13 | 13.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Retractable banner | 10 | 10.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Display ad, 160 by 600 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Social post, square | 13 | 13.2 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Display ad, 300 by 250 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Postcard, 6 by 4 inches | 13 | 13.2 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Event cover | 12 | 12.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Billboard | 12 | 12.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Email header | 11 | 11.0 | 5.19 to 1 |
| Display ad, 728 by 90 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.19 to 1 |