Finalised 'Pre-Surgery' Card

The card is the same size as a standard credit card. Overall the best design was with less text, keeping it simple and easy to use practically.

 

Designing Card II

Some practice designs for the card:

Designing 'Keep Calm' Card I

Requirements for a pre-surgery keep calm card:

• Small - ideally to fit inside a wallet/purse to easily access whilst in the waiting room before surgery. 
• No images of eyes/surgery. Could increase anxiety. 
• Include what to think about during surgery - After asking 2 of the viewers who completed the survey, and reading a few online forums, it had become apparent most people fear the process of the surgery. Unlike many operations, you remain conscious and the bright lights, loud noises, and large machines can increase stress levels.
• A colour scheme which promotes a calm atmosphere. (Similar to that in my film. i.e warm pale colours. Light orange/pink/pale purple...)

I will use a credit card for a size template.
I will use pale pink as it is easy to look at, is a positive colour, different colour to credit cards - so easily found in wallet, and a different colour scheme to the safety leaflet - keeping them seperate items.

Finalised Leaflet

Here is my final design prototype of the leaflet which will accompany my video. This was made as viewers agreed an improvement of my video would be to include potential health risks.

• A cool colour scheme of blue's and green's has been selected. There is some orange text to aid the reader through the dense text. 
• Although the leaflet is text heavy, I felt it was more important to produce a small compact leaflet, so it can be easily picked up and read. A diagram in the middle of the leaflet is used to break up some of the text. 
• The back page is now correct. 
• I have only included one quote to ensure no bias and I have not included any patients opinions as my goal is to educate people further on laser eye surgery - not to make (or alter) their decisions. 

Front view: 

After opening 1 page:

All inside pages:

The back view (when opened out): 

Designing leaflet III

Based on my aesthetic requirements, I have designed a demo leaflet to test out different styles.

Here I have experimented with different size papers, different folds, and different colours.

Possible size papers: A6 A5 A4 A3

 A3 is too large for any leaflet. A4 (Below) is hard to hold in only 1 hand. Too large to fill with side effects. Very daunting for the audience.

 A5 is easier to hold in 1 hand, but large enough include clear text.

 Different methods of folding for the A5 leaflet.

 

 I have chosen to fold it into thirds vertically (see last pic^).
 



Below is my rough plan of my leaflet with the a selected structure. I test the colour scheme as well as how I can arrange the text and diagrams.

 
  





This should be the back page. Error in designing. I will not make this mistake for the real design.

Colour tests: 

I tested 'warm', 'cool' and 'brown' colour schemes. 

• The warm colours are similar to my video colour scheme. Although this would link them, I think it is important to differentiate between learning the science behind eye surgery and understanding the health risks. 
• The cool colours look as if they will work well and keep a calm tone to the leaflet. 
• The browns/greens are slightly dull. Not eye capturing.

Designing leaflet II

Aesthetics

Potential requirements:

1. The leaflet must have text size large enough to be read by someone with impaired vision. 
2. Must be easily transported, so can be handed out at GP surgeries/eye clinics/hospitals whilst viewing the film. 
3. Should not be daunting or scare the patient. Simultaneously it cannot provide false information. Should not be bias. 
4. Should capture the audience's attention to ensure they are focused when absorbing the information. 

How this will be achieved:

1. I will not go into too much detail. Therefore less text will need to be on the leaflet meaning the font can be larger. 
2. It will fold up into a smaller size. 
3. Although a large leaflet would be I can achieve requirement 1, it may be daunting for someone to pick up a very big leaflet on all the side effects. Therefore leaflet must be kept small. As it will be foldable, this will help to some degree. I will ensure it can be read and held in one hand. To rule out any bias from information I have gathered, I will cross reference my sources. I will not avoid negative examples or give fake data, however certain side effects which vary extremely from case to case do not need to be presented. 
4. Leaflet should include colour, perhaps a diagram, varied size font. I will choose reassuring colours e.g. pale colours, not too bright. 

Reviewing other health leaflets:

Photos help spread out the text. Photos would not be appropriate for my leaflet, as it would appear too graphic. Many viewers said the surgery 'scares them', this would not work well together.

Tri fold. Again many photos. White background with a small amount of colour is effective. 

Z or Tri fold leaflet. Split into 3 main sections. There are many opinions and quotes. I cannot include opinions and quotes on my leaflet as it is purely for highlighting the risks. 

The photo of laser eye would not help the leaflet in anyway.

Different ways to fold the leaflet. Most leaflets i've come across have been tri, Z or roll fold. This makes them very compact, easily transportable and easily folded and re-folded. 

Designing Leaflet

On top of learning the basic safety of laser eye during my work experience, I have already done some research into the health risks during my investigation of 'Laser Eye in the Media'.

"Complications occur in less than 5% of cases. Most people are back at work within a few days to a week."- NHS health website.

After cross referencing the sources presented earlier in the blog, I have produced a table of side effects, their symptoms, and any possible treatments.

	Symptoms	Treatment
Dry eyes (most common, not serious).	Feelings of dryness, grittiness or soreness that get worse throughout the day, red eyes, eyelids that stick together when you wake up, temporarily blurred vision.	Artificial tears (drops), anti-inflammatories, in rare cases surgery for drainage prevention.
Glare (more likely if short-sightedness was corrected)	Glare/halo affect when driving at night, around bright lights. Maybe have double vision.	No quick treatment.
Under corrections	Will not achieve intended clear results. Vision still blurred.	Further laser eye is required to remove more tissu
Over corrections	Vision of worse quality than before surgery.	Complex course of medication can help, but very hard to treat.
Astigmatism	Uneven tissue removal causes blurred vision, headaches, eye strain.	Addition survey, glasses or contact lenses.
Flap problems	Removing flap for period of time can cause infections, excess tears and inflammation.	Antibiotics, eye drops, anti-inflammatories.

This will make it easier to design my leaflet as I know roughly how much text I should include. 

Conditions that increase risks: 

• Autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis
• Immunodeficiency conditions caused by immunosuppressive medications or HIV
• Persistent dry eyes
• Unstable vision due to medications, hormonal changes, pregnancy, breast-feeding or age
• Several eye conditions, such as keratoconus, keratitis, uveitis, herpes simplex affecting the eye area, glaucoma, cataracts, eye injuries or lid disorders

LASIK may not be advisable if you:

• Have fairly good overall vision
• Have very large pupils or thin corneas
• Have a job that may be affected if you have the procedure
• Have age-related eye changes that cause you to have less clear vision (presbyopia)