Design study, Environment
Harbor Cleanup Day
A self-initiated design study: Recruit volunteers for a three-hour cleanup and make the first one easy to say yes to.
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
- Environment
- Audience
- Families, students, and neighborhood groups who live near the shoreline.
- Objective
- Recruit volunteers for a three-hour cleanup and make the first one easy to say yes to.
- When and where
- Saturday, June 5 | 9 am to noon, Shoreline Park
Concept A: Morning for the Bay 12
Asks for something small and personal, one morning, and ties it to the shore people want their kids to inherit. Type style.
Concept B: Ready by Nine 12
Lays out the whole morning in simple steps, check in, get a kit, clean a stretch, so first-timers feel ready. Scene style.
Concept C: Treasure Hunt 12
Plays up the oddball things volunteers always find, turning a chore into a friendly treasure hunt. Grid style.
Spanish adaptation of Morning for the Bay 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 5.94 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 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Flyer, letter | 11 | 13.5 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Social story, vertical | 13 | 13.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Retractable banner | 10 | 10.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Display ad, 160 by 600 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Social post, square | 13 | 13.2 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Display ad, 300 by 250 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Postcard, 6 by 4 inches | 13 | 13.2 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Event cover | 12 | 12.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Billboard | 12 | 12.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Email header | 11 | 11.0 | 5.94 to 1 |
| Display ad, 728 by 90 | 10 | 10.0 | 5.94 to 1 |