Articles

When a stroke needs to embrace an entire population

There’s a lot at stake when it comes to illustrating for borger.dk, where citizens in Denmark get access to the country’s government agencies. The illustrations have to be correct, because they are based on the legislations, that are the background for the story. Illustrations should give a quick overview and guide citizens in making the right decisions in important situations that we all come across throughout our lives.

The illustrations are built in three layers to create the user journey. On the first layer, the stage is set in the background. For example, I have to move. Second layer. What do I receive from the municipality/state? Third layer. What should I do? What are my options?

The expression needs to reflect Danish qualities

The illustrative expression must relate to all citizens in Denmark. In many cases, we need to examine whether there is something cultural in the illustration that may seem exclude certain to certain groups of citizens. Should there be an image of a church in the description of a funeral, when a large number of citizens are not members of the Danish national church? Or how should a relationship be portrayed when a modern legally binding relationship can be many constellations?

“An exciting challenge in the project was the creating the characters. In certain cases, they needed to be gender neutral, include different ethnicities and appear relevant in a Danish context.”

Maria Knappe, Designer and Illustrator on the project

So, the illustrations are created in a balance between the completely simple and anonymous expression and the detailed and descriptive expression that must embrace an entire population.

See more illustrations in our case, Infographics for borger.dk At the bottom of the case you’ll find examples of other illustrative infographic projects that we have done for our clients.