Design can be very generous, but it can also be specific. At the same time, design is a visual language, which conveys a concept or a thought. The power of design in public health is in its significant performance.
In the past, smoking is not seemed as a bad habit. But after the awareness of health increased, more and more people realized the harm of this bad habit. Therefore, more and more people or organizations stood out to help people reduce this harm even to quit smoking. But without designs, this project cannot be promoted obviously and fast. For example, advertisements, logos and tools that can help to quit this negative habit. Here is an example, the graphic warning labels on cigarette package tell people the negative of smoking. Anyway, We will all be asked if this will work or not.
But based on the data that I had researched, people are holding different opinions. The survey from the Ohio State University points different thoughts. Some people think, the image didn’t threaten the smokers (Grabmeier, J, 2015). Because some people themselves can just buy another stylish cigarette cases or they can put a sticker on the warning images (Grabmeier, J, 2015), so as to find their methods to ignore the warnings. But most of the interviewees think that the images can definitely stir their emotions, help them think about quitting this habit among smokers, and prevent others from ever starting it (Grabmeier, J, 2015).
The survey from International Tobacco Control (ITC) of four countries, Canada, Australia, America and UK, shows that the warning photos on cigarette packages do effect on smokers and make them think about the risk of smoking.
However, the answers are far from clear, since William Shadel who is an associate director of Population Health Program pointed that “there’s little evidence for the effect of graphic warning labels on smoking initiation or cessation. There are estimates of the potential impact but almost no direct evidence for an actual effect on smoking.” (Deborah M. and Shadel, W. 2014 )
That’s true. But smokers at least are aware of the harm of smoking through the directly design of warning graphic images.
Another controversial design that helped quit smoking is Electronic cigarette. The idea came up by Joseph Robinson in 1930. But the first commercially successful electronic cigarette was created in Beijing, China by Hon Lik, a 52-year-old pharmacist, inventor and smoker. (CASAA, n.d) His father is a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer. That was what encouraged him to create the E-cigarette. And this design got approved by government, because at that time they thought E-cigarette was no harmful than normal cigarette. However, During 2008 to 2015, some scientist found E-c would course more health problems. So lots of countries banned to sale it. Nowadays, this design is considered to be 2 types, one including nicotine and one without nicotine. The revolution of e-cigarette is kept on and this design may be refined in the future as a helper for quitting smoking.
Above all, the designs that use for public health normally have to go through a process to be improved more perfectly by different judgments.
Reference:
- Deborah M. and Shadel, W. 2014, Graphic Warning Labels on Cigarettes Are
- scary, but Do They Work? Viewed 15 February 2017, < http://www.rand.org/blog/2014/09/graphic-warning-labels-on-cigarettes-are-scary-but.html>
- Grabmier, J, 2015, How graphic photos on cigarette packs help smokers consider quitting, viewed 15 February 2017 <https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/12/21/graphic-warnings/>
- CASAA, n.d. A Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes, viewed 15 February 2017, < http://casaa.org/historical-timeline-of-electronic-cigarettes/>
Images:
- scary, but Do They Work? Viewed 15 February 2017, < http://www.rand.org/blog/2014/09/graphic-warning-labels-on-cigarettes-are-scary-but.html>
- Daily Mail, 2014 More countries adding graphic warnings to smokes, viewed 15 February 2017, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2671848/More-countries-adding-graphic-warnings-smokes.html>.
Indonesia Global Design Studio 