Level 5 Graphic Communication students Ben Conod, Maria Korkonea, Carys Mathews, Callum Solley, Kieran Traas submitted a poster abstract to the 18th Welsh Stroke Conference held at Cardiff Met on 3rd and 4th July, 2019. The poster entitled “The use of Graphic Communication in persuading the Welsh population to ‘Get Involved’ in Stroke Research” documented the students’ engagement in a ‘live brief’ during which they were invited to choose from a range projects set by clients from research centres and charities. The overarching theme of the project was ‘Persuasion’, which was addressed in close collaboration with stakeholders. The aforementioned group chose to work with the Stroke Hub Wales (SHW) research centre, with client Dr. Abdul Seckum on a project called Get Involved.
Stroke is one of the top three causes of death and the leading cause of adult disability in Wales. Stroke research is therefore a critical enabler in the health of our nation. Research saves lives, prevents strokes and improves the lives of stroke survivors. For this project the student team created a range of media outputs for Stroke Hub Wales that aimed to encourage people in Wales and worldwide, with a personal interest in Stroke research to Get Involved by taking an active role in the pioneering work of SHW.
The poster and media on display for the conference offered the predominantly medical and scientific audience an insight into how design thinking, methods, and techniques – including animation, interactive posters and print media – can translate patient experiences into powerful information design. The project had a positive impact on those visitng the SHW webpages and since the launch of Get Involved over 50 people interested in Stroke Research have registered online. A further 6 Principal Investigators have been in contact with SHW with interest in the research.
As a consequence of the success of this creative collaboration the Graphic Communication staff, including team – Professor Wendy Keay-Bright, Ian Weir and David Wrenne – are continuing to work with SHW on further projectes that could bolster participant representation and involvement.
List of authors and institutions: Dr. Abdul Seckam, Professor Wendy Keay-Bright, Ben Conod, Maria Korkonea, Carys Mathews, Callum Solley, Kieran Traas.
Lead authors email address: aseckam@cardiffmet.ac.uk; wkbright@cardiffmet.ac.uk
