Why Design A Display Board For VNAM

Because display boards have been a staple in the veterinary practice since time immemorial, you could be forgiven for assuming that a good display board is an easy feat to achieve. You might also mistakenly underappreciate the potential impact a well-designed display board can have on the countless eyes that wander over the colour and production. Read more about how a visual display can be used effectively here.

How To Design A Display Board

Display boards work best as instruments to draw attention to a subject and signal avenues for further information. It can be very difficult to include all relevant information of a topic into a single display board without the amount of text becoming overwhelming. Rather than a direct source of detail, a good display board is one which holds just one or two important points. It is therefore important to consider the purpose of a display. What is it you want to achieve when someone’s eyes cast over your creation? Providing a clear call to action for your audience will improve the impact of your display. This could be discussing a particular topic with certain members of staff, reading a leaflet or using a QR code to visit a webpage.

The design for a display board can take many forms. From shapes, colours, fonts and pictures – take the time to make your display feel unique and personal, all whilst remaining considerate of the audience. This consideration should include legibility – some people might have difficulty reading small wording or low-contrast colours. Avoid the use of thin, ornate fonts and keep italicised wording to a minimum. It is now widely accepted that block capitals are in fact not as easy to read as standard sentence case. Colours should be high contrast and simple. Keeping to a smaller palette will have a better chance of preventing the display from becoming overwhelming to unfamiliar eyes.

In aid of preventing the display from becoming overwhelming, only include visuals which aid the content of your work. Images should directly contribute to assisting the conveyance of a message or story to your audience; not working purely as decoration. The blank space surrounding your words and visuals is just as important as the content itself. If your audience feels there’s too much information to take in with a glance, they just might look the other way. Therefore, content is at a premium and should work to deserve its place.

Again, when considering the audience for your display, the language included should be kept simple where possible. Avoid unnecessary jargon and keep sentences short, with information concise. What information do you expect the audience to already be familiar with? What new information could you include to help expand their understanding? And finally, what elements can you employ to increase engagement or interactivity with your display? Finding fun games can work well to gain attention and spark conversation. For example, you could have cards attached to a string on the board – statements written on one side of a card, with true or false written on the back of the card. Alternatively, you write a riddle or a question without providing an answer – encouraging the audience to ask staff members.

Using these ideas, let’s critique the board above. The display shows a couple of clear points and has a self-evident call to action, albeit requiring the information to be sitting directly below the board. The board assumes that the audience is familiar with the abbreviation BVNA, but not VNAM – clearly detailing the full title. Only three high-contrast colours are used, with one colour used multiple times to indicate a link between the two chunks of information. There are no images used, which keeps the information clear at the cost of personality. Despite the large lettering, enough negative space remains, keeping the display easy to digest at a glance. The language used is simple and the sentence is as short as can be, whilst retaining its meaning. Finally, there are no fun activities included within the design – but it should plainly engage with the right audience: those who may be interested in learning how to make a display. When considering all of this, it would be fair to say that the above display board has a clear purpose and call to action but could be improved with some flair or personality to help grab attention within a busy waiting room. Perhaps reducing the size of the letters “BVNA” would provide the space to include some images of examples of displays, as not all displays are display boards. Images could have included display boards, posters, TV screens or even flyers.

Here are two free and easy to use tools to design for your poster, or infographic, where you can upload your own messages, photos, images and content;

• For a poster – https://www.canva.com/ – What do you get for free? The tools, templates, backgrounds, frames, shapes and icons. You can upload your own videos and images, or you can choose to buy images or videos from Canva
• For an infographic – https://www.easel.ly/ – What do you get for free? The tools, templates, backgrounds, frames, shapes and icons. You can upload your own videos and images