{"id":1678,"date":"2021-08-23T14:47:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T14:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/?p=1678"},"modified":"2021-08-23T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T14:56:06","slug":"painting-a-picture-of-the-dorset-care-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/2021\/08\/23\/painting-a-picture-of-the-dorset-care-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Painting a picture of the Dorset Care Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex May has been producing illustrations for teams across Dorset Council over the past few years. In our latest blog, Alex writes about his work and how he came to produce the diagram for the Dorset Care Record Partnership.<\/em><\/p>\n

I began to draw \u201crich picture\u201d process maps\u00a0some years back\u00a0(diagrams with images\u00a0of the \u201cthing\u201d\u00a0next to the words\u00a0for the \u201cthing\u201d).\u00a0I used these\u00a0to help gain a\u00a0buy-in and a\u00a0greater understanding\u00a0from\u00a0my\u00a0customers\u00a0for pieces of work I was involved with.\u00a0I worked closely,\u00a0at the time,\u00a0with DCR Business Analyst\u00a0Jayne Catley, who introduced me to this format.<\/p>\n

One thing\u00a0led to another and soon I was\u00a0producing\u00a0sketch notes \/ graphic recording \/ illustrations\u00a0regularly for\u00a0not only\u00a0my own\u00a0but\u00a0Corporate projects.\u00a0I really enjoy the format and believe in the adage that\u00a0\u201ca picture speaks a thousand\u00a0words\u201d \u2026\u2026<\/em>plus\u00a0the hope is that,\u00a0on some occasions,\u00a0they\u00a0allow me to avoid writing!<\/p>\n

All my illustrations to date have been drawn freehand.\u00a0This can, however, make the whole process very time consuming and if I mess something up\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

You want me to do what?!<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was approached by Tony\u00a0McDougal (DCR Communications and Engagement Officer) asking if I would be happy to create\u00a0an image for DCR I was delighted.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been aware of the project from\u00a0its inception\u00a0and have been envious of\u00a0what\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0achieved. As a Service Designer\u00a0for the Council\u00a0(the\u00a0day job)\u00a0my daily focus\u00a0is\u00a0around\u00a0user centred design\u00a0and\u00a0this is\u00a0a brilliant\u00a0example\u00a0of just that. I can relate to\u00a0the scenario of going through the\u00a0rigmarole\u00a0of\u00a0repeating\u00a0your\u00a0story when people are ill or moving from or within health care settings.<\/p>\n

The DCR delivers a safe and secure way for professionals to find out the information required and share to other authorised professionals in different settings in a safe and secure manner too negate this repetition. It is an invaluable resource.<\/p>\n

Research,\u00a0research,\u00a0research<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following\u00a0our\u00a0initial conversations,\u00a0Tony\u00a0shared with me a list of\u00a0phrases and key words\u00a0generated by the team\u00a0covering what DCR encompasses and means to\u00a0them.\u00a0I later\u00a0attended\u00a0a\u00a0Team\u00a0meeting to\u00a0introduce myself,\u00a0describe\u00a0my processes,\u00a0gather ideas on\u00a0any\u00a0possible\u00a0design\u00a0themes and to collect\u00a0further\u00a0comments from them around the strengths and benefits of the product.\u00a0 With\u00a0all this and information captured\u00a0through\u00a0reading\u00a0publications\u00a0and online\u00a0resources\u00a0I drew up a few possible\u00a0overarching designs\u00a0for the illustration.<\/p>\n

I delivered\u00a0to the team\u00a03 \u201cpost-it\u201d\u00a0sized sketched\u00a0options with written descriptions and example imagery\u00a0whereby they\u00a0voted\u00a0for\u00a0their favourite.\u00a0It\u2019s likely the\u00a0service designer\u00a0in me is magnetised to Post-its\u00a0but\u00a0I find they\u00a0limit the amount of detail I can go into\/be more concise.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Team\u00a0chose\u00a0the\u00a0option\u00a0which\u00a0visualises\u00a0clearly\u00a0the connections to all who\u00a0have\u00a0access to the\u00a0DCR\u00a0symbolising the 2-way sharing of information, with the\u00a0benefits\u00a0scattered\u00a0around the piece.<\/p>\n

Pencilling\u00a0in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once the\u00a0layout\u00a0design had been\u00a0chosen,\u00a0I set to work generating the 1st<\/sup>\u00a0draft.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0brought together\u00a0all the information\u00a0captured,\u00a0highlighted the key points,\u00a0noted\u00a0any\u00a0themes,\u00a0and grouped\u00a0where possible\u00a0ensuring along the way that they\u00a0gave an accurately reflected\u00a0DCR. I then roughly\u00a0sketched\u00a0out an image\u00a0to help describe each point. Once done I\u00a0set about thinking how these could\u00a0be incorporated into the\u00a0layout\u00a0design to make it flow as much as it can.<\/p>\n

Due to the design chosen and the imagery\u00a0planned\u00a0I\u00a0had to go big i.e. A3 in size.\u00a0 This\u00a0allowed\u00a0ample space to\u00a0reduce overcrowding.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0began by\u00a0drawing\u00a0rough circles around the page\u00a0to\u00a0map out\u00a0where\u00a0the\u00a0individual\u00a0illustrations were going to sit, this allows me to\u00a0check\u00a0the\u00a0spacing and sizing.\u00a0 Once happy I laid\u00a0down the pencil design starting\u00a0from the central\u00a0large DCR logo\u00a0and working my way\u00a0outwards.<\/p>\n

Time for a quick review<\/strong><\/p>\n

On completion\u00a0of the pencil draft\u00a0I\u00a0shared\u00a0it\u00a0with the\u00a0team\u00a0requesting their\u00a0comments\u00a0to ensure I was on the right track.\u00a0Following their\u00a0feedback,\u00a0I made\u00a0some\u00a0slight amendments\u00a0(always good to check before\u00a0getting\u00a0the permanent ink\u00a0out).<\/p>\n

The point of no return\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next step was inking.\u00a0 For a piece so large it can be time consuming but\u00a0is ultimately\u00a0one of\u00a0the most important,\u00a0enjoyable\u00a0but stressful parts, bringing the image\u00a0alive.\u00a0Throughout\u00a0this\u00a0I\u2019m thinking\u00a0about\u00a0the\u00a0thickness of the lines, styles to use, type used, shapes and colour scheme, altering\u00a0and\u00a0adding as I go.\u00a0 The colours chosen were\u00a0that of the DCR logo and with contrasting colours where there\u00a0was a need to highlight certain aspects\u00a0such as\u00a0the titles\u00a0of Professionals\u00a0etc.<\/p>\n

On its completion I scanned the image, digitally cleaned\u00a0it,\u00a0sent to Tony,\u00a0done!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My final thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve spent many nights agonising\u00a0over this illustration\u00a0in my studio\/shed.\u00a0 I\u00a0am happy with the outcome I just hope that the amazing DCR team are too. Not forgetting most importantly, that it captures what the DCR is and highlights the huge benefits\/impact that it delivers to the lives of the people of our county.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alex May (@SketchMay)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex May has been producing illustrations for teams across Dorset Council over the past few years. In our latest blog, Alex writes about his work and how he came to produce the diagram for the Dorset Care Record Partnership. I began to draw \u201crich picture\u201d process maps\u00a0some years back\u00a0(diagrams with images\u00a0of the \u201cthing\u201d\u00a0next to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1866,"featured_media":1679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[151],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/files\/2021\/08\/alexmayfinal.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1866"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1678"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1681,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1678\/revisions\/1681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-care-record\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}