Designers with Their Heads Up Their...

The Minnesota Department of Health has been running this billboard for a little while.


It got some news coverage because some people find the photo distasteful. I don't care about that; my problem is that I find the photo hard to read.

It's unintelligible enough because it's so contrived, but the designer made an even bigger mistake when s/he chose to use a dark background. Because the man is wearing dark pants, his legs disappear into the background and the reader has even fewer cues to indicate the action that's portrayed.

This is the best photo I could get of the billboard, even though I got off the highway, as close as possible, and got out of the car to take the shot. Meanwhile, the intended reader is whizzing past at 60 miles an hour.

The main impression I get is of a headless person. Not quite what they intended.

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An older post about a colonoscopy billboard.