Creative Brief - Marcy McNeil
Health Care of All

The Health Care for All California Web site presents the challenge of representing both the “heath care” and “California” concepts. We have met this challenge by incorporating an EKG image and the colors of a California poppy field (blue and yellow-orange). An electrocardiogram seemed the most appropriate way to convey health care, as heart health is fundamental to well-being. To ensure it’s clear to the audience that HCA is a grassroots organization, we will also incorporate photos of recent events that capture the essence of political activism.

We also feel the EKG works well because it is a simple line drawing that easily integrates with other design elements as the logo. We could have used other medical paraphernalia, such as a stethoscope, but that imagery is not as simple. Other imagery like hypodermic needles would not convey health in general. They might even be misleading, implying social issues other than universal health care. For the logo, we decided to impose the initials HCA (white with a dark blue outline) over a poppy-colored state of California. This will be placed in the upper left corner, where visitors might expect to see the logo.

Regarding the navigation, the client ideally would like drop down menus on the home page. Because this project is being conducted in a learning environment, the designer attempt to fulfill this wish with a Flash navigation bar. Alternatively, the navigation bar will consist of “remote rollovers.” For example, when a visitor mouses over a page with sub page links, he or she will see a preview of those sub page links, but will have to go to the second-level page to access third-level pages. A Flash menu can be thought of as a tentative deliverable, with the remote rollover navigation being the client’s second choice.