Wellcome Collection
I was excited to visit the Wellcome Collection because I am a graphic design major, so I was interested to see what the exhibit was going to be about. I don’t think very many people realize how often graphic design is used and what a central role it has in society. Learning about it has made me more aware, but I still did not know very much about graphic design used in medicine, and I also had not really thought about how important it is. Medicine and health has to be advertised and represented correctly because it could be dangerous if something is misinterpreted.
One of the things that stood out to me was the dementia poster that was created in 2012 by Studio Dumbar in the Netherlands. The fading letters are a great representation of Alzheimer’s and I think they are almost more impactful without the people in the background. In the exhibit, there was information about how the change in design was meant to change the way that people react to dementia because the old logo, a tree with falling leaves, had negative connotations. The fading letters represent the fading memories of those with Alzheimer’s while still being bright, so it is more positive (“Can Graphic Design Save Your Life?”).
The second thing that stood out to me was the way that Teva was able to use colors and shapes to use packaging as a way to explain what products are and how they should be taken. It is a simple way to make sure the information on the packaging is very clear. I thought this was a good example of how creative design can be even just for simple packaging. The whole exhibit demonstrated how designers are constantly coming up with new ways to present information that people need to know in exciting ways.
