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After studying this weeks lecture materials, I’m tentatively exploring a research initiative in response to brief one. Business planning is something I studied in my previous postgrad work - albeit 20 years ago. (ouch! two decades)

I’d also like to shake off my self-imposed stipulation that I am not a researcher. I’m curious, a reader, exhibit hyperfocus when I am interested, and believe in the simple (naive?) notion that designers have a responsibility to use their skills to do good in the world. Ethically, every human should do good. But design is often utilized as a portal for propaganda, and a medium for manipulating consumers. I love branding and revel in consumerism so I’m here for all the well-designed advertising campaigns. However- we as a collective of designers need to balance this with a bit of societal good.

Organizational and time management skills are where I lapse in my researchers criteria. But perhaps this is the brief to hone them. And whilst the blog is not graded for this module it can operate as an accountability tool.

In the broadest of terms, I’d like to research the effects of graphic design on neurodivergent children’s engagement with a text.

Recently, my 8yo son - brilliantly neurodiverse and diagnosed ADHD/ASD - couldn’t proceed with reading a book because the font looked “ugly” (direct quote). The level & content was a match; and he is an avid reader.

This was reading for leisure- which is a favored coping mechanism for him. It’s not as if he was looking to get out of homework. Although admittedly, it’s an excuse I’d be sympathetic toward. 

“I don’t like the font” should be the new “the dog ate my homework”.

(Because sometimes my neurodivergent kid won’t get in an elevator)

• Does typography and or editorial design impact ASD/ADHD/neurodivergent children’s engagement with a text?

• Positioning and use of graphics - how do they interplay, enhance, detract or deter?

• Elementary aged neurodivergent children often struggle to focus on required school work. They may not have the capacity or confidence or maturity to effectively self-advocate, but they can’t get through the required schoolwork.

What if : Graphic design could help?

There are undoubtedly a plethora of factors which influence a pupil to focus. But can we, as designers, shape one of those factors? 

Bold, serif, italics or … varied? Diversity for the neurodiverse? Is consistency key or does variation spark interest, maintain focus.

DESIGN = DOPAMINE

b r a i n s t o r m i n g w e e k o n e

Experience leads me to believe that typography, layout, editorial design, color palettes, even paper texture can influence the digestion of information. Are there particular styles or guidelines that are more appeasing to the neurodivergent brain? How can we apply type/layout/book design in a manner that makes it easier for neurodivergent children to learn?

Overall, most mainstream schools are constructed for neurotypical students- the way they are structured, the topics and how they are taught, even the way they move between classes. With greater awareness developing, there are some wonderful advances occurring in interior and architectural design which are adapting school environs for neurodivergent kids.

ADHD makes it difficult for kids to focus on material for extended periods of time- unless of course it is highly interesting, in which case hyperfocus kicks in. If one has the comorbidity of autism spectrum disorder- this hyper focus can become extreme.

But schools - particularly at elementary level- require kids to be taught a broad array of information, and the fact alone of an inability to focus - can cause ADHD children to fall behind from an early age. 

Psychiatrists may prescribe medication, psychologists may suggest a shadow teacher - both often required interventions, but equally often not an option.

What if there were basic graphic design tools we could use which made information and learning more accessible? It wouldn’t solve all the challenges- but maybe it would help. A set of style guidelines could be used online and in textbooks, or the development of worksheets, even the graphic design of a timetable. 

(I spend a few hours at the beginning of each term redesigning my kids timetables with fonts, colors and pictures so they are more accessible).

TYPOGRAPHY

As designers, we can learn to analyze typefaces and assess their worth based on an array of rules and constructs. I’m unsure how much attention is given to the selection of typefaces in children’s literature/textbooks - but experience would suggest it is not always prioritized.

Significant work has been done into the development of dyslexic-friendly typefaces.

Is it less threatening? Less overwhelming? Like his brain, in an instant suggests “ok this seems manageable, it’s chunked down, we can try and focus.

Perhaps its not always the content, but the way the content is presented. 

WORKING MEMORY

ADHD often effects working memory, meaning people forget things easily. Can tools of editorial & graphic design help recall in children? What variables could we change to test this? Colour? Font?

DYSCALCULIA

25% of people with ADHD also have Dyscalculia - a learning struggle with numbers and math. This can also present as “math anxiety”

• What if… there was a font family, a typeface, a layout of textbooks, that aided kids in learning basic math? 

• What if we varied the font between numbers and letters so that worded math problems in textbooks weren’t so overwhelming?

• Could a simple change in font bold to light or serif to sans, or a combination of both - help dyscalculia affected students?