ACE
ACE (Accelerating Circular Economies) is a collaborative project between OhioHealth, Rural Action, and Ohio University students and faculty. The goal of the project is to reduce plastic waste within the OhioHealth hospital system by reclaiming medical fabric, that typically would be discarded. The fabric will be sanitized, then sent to Rural Action who will turn it into reusable bags. These bags will be distributed in OhioHealth cafeterias and food banks.
Task
Test
The largest challenge faced in this project was creating a fun design that people would be excited to use, but that lived within OhioHealth’s pre-existing branding. As a large organization, OhioHealth has a strict brand image to maintain. We were challenged to push their boundaries and come up with a fresh, exciting take on their sustainability messaging.
Another challenge faced in this project was the uncertainty surrounding the production process and how it would affect the readability of the design. The fabric that the bags will be printed on is highly textured, which could make screen printing difficult. Fine lines and small details might not appear cleanly. The fabric also had the possibility to vary in color. Because of this, our designs had to be adapted to have thicker line work, less detail, bold text, and only use one color.
The main deliverable for this project was an artistic design to be screen printed on tote bags created from reclaimed medical fabric. Along with this, a tag design was created to give users information on the production of the bags, and how OhioHealth prioritizes sustainability.
We used digital illustration and hand lettering to create this organic design. The final bags will be printed and sewn by Rural Action, and distributed in OhioHealth cafeterias and food banks.
We examined the brand guide set in place by OhioHealth, then explored ways to utilize OhioHealth’s messaging while communicating the idea that ‘environmental health is human health’ through visuals. Throughout the iterative process, we produced over 35 different design variations in an attempt to balance visually pleasing artwork with messaging that felt true to OhioHealth’s brand.
The images below show examples of early concepts and styles that were explored by the design team. After several rounds of redesigns based on client feedback, we were able to create a compelling design which incorporated a food-based elements into a free-flowing, nature inspired design.
| Primary #0073ae |
SCSS var $color-blue |
◯ |
| R 0 G 115 B 174 |
OhioHealth Blue
| Navy #002a5c |
SCSS var $color-navy |
◯ |
| R 0 G 42 B 92 |
OhioHealth Navy
| Digital #a0d8f5 |
SCSS var $color-digital |
◯ |
| R 160 G 216 B 245 |
OhioHealth Digital Blue
| White #FFFFFF |
SCSS var $color-white |
◯ |
| R 255 G 255 B 255 |
White
Typeface
The Sans
Usage
Headlines
Typeface
The Serif
Usage
Subheadlines
The final step in this process was creating a screen print test. This test allowed us to determine how much detail would be lost in the printing process. It also allowed us to find the best method for printing on the textured material. After testing, it was determined that the design needed minor adjustments to improve the legibility of the logo and to minimize the loss of detail throughout the design.
Management
Mark Franz
Project Manager
Nathaniel Berger
Account Manager
Creative Direction
Mark Franz
Creative Director
Caroline Murphy
Creative Director
Xenab Malik
Creative Director
Production
Kylie Colwell
Graphic Design
Carmen Chao
Graphic Design