DESIGN AGAINST CRIME
Posters – Teachers notes
Designing and
making the poster
The design and manufacture of a quality product is vital to the
success of this design and technology activity. It has been our
intention in devising these projects that we support teachers and
pupils working towards this end.
The pupil workbook should be used to provide guidance and
support for pupils through their designing and making tasks.
Teachers, however, are encouraged to develop the activities
according to their own particular strengths and to the needs of
their pupils.
The following notes examine more closely the content of the
Posters workbook, explain the philosophy that underpins the
structure, and provide advice and support on aspects of the
design, making and assessment activities.
It has not been our intention to prescribe a particular age phase or
ability level to this project. In its simplest form the workbook and
project is ideally suited to KS3 as a focused practical task.
Alternatively, the project could be used as a starting point for a
GCSE Graphics Products project. When working at this higher
level, you may consider extending the tasks relating to crime by
accessing the Home Office web site at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ or
at www.designagainstcrime.org, the Design Against Crime
website.
Posters project
rationale
The project can be directed towards producing a poster that
incorporates a mechanism. This provides an element of
interaction, and should reinforce the poster’s message.
Alternatively, this aspect of the activity may be used to provide
differentiation.
Poster design is often used in D&T, usually in year 7, and is
frequently directed at the design of a Health and Safety poster to
reinforce learning in resistant materials work. This activity is often
undertaken with little teaching directed specifically at
understanding posters, their function and their design. This
DesignAgainstCrime project provides guidance and learning tasks
about fundamental principles that underpin good poster design.
By incorporating the interactive element, pupils are also able to
experiment with simple, easily manufactured mechanisms which
enhance the quality of the poster and enrich their learning.
DesignAgainstCrime – Posters
Page 1
Sheffield Hallam University
The starting point
The importance of embedding this Poster project within the
context of crime reduction cannot be understated. This context is
important in underpinning essential aspects of citizenship and
provides ample opportunity to guide pupils into a valid design and
make activity.
Pages 2 and 3 contain analytical and data presentation tasks,
based on real crime statistics. Tasks such as the pie chart can
either be carried out graphically in the workbook or provide an
opportunity to use ICT. The data can be entered into a package
such as ‘Excel’ and the pie chart printed out and pasted in place.
The tasks on these pages can be used as homework activities but
teachers will find that they also provide opportunities for pupils to
discuss some of the issues.
The essential D&T focus within this workbook is related to
designing and making a poster and is about focusing pupils'
attention on aspects of design that they need to consider, develop
and think about.
Learning about
poster design
The project is flexible. For example; pages 4 and 5 and the
‘Gallery’ on pages 10 and 11 deal with the analysis of existing
posters. These can be group activities or used as individual
homework tasks. The example on page 5 shows how this can be
done. It is also worth noting that, whilst sketching out the features
of the poster and using annotation, pupils are engaged in design
activities which are readily transferable to other fields of D&T.
Other local and current posters could be used as examples. The
Gallery on pages 10 and 11 formalises this analytical approach
by asking specific questions about the features of four posters.
Learning the skillslsPages 6 to 8 address Colour, Lettering , Messages and
Slogans and Layout. In each section, there are tasks for pupils
to complete. The intention here is to move their thinking
progressively towards their own DesignAgainstCrime poster
design.
Page 8 ‘Messages and Slogans’ is an ideal brainstorming
activity followed by the more formal task of thinking and recording
their ideas for slogans and then choosing lettering styles and
colour combinations. The word alliteration is introduced under
this heading; this provides an ideal teaching input to focus
attention on developing appropriate slogans and messages.
Ideas can be recorded on the 'sketch pad' on page 8.
‘Sketchpads’ should not be limiting; additional sheets can be
attached as appropriate to create an active and developing folio of
work.
DesignAgainstCrime – Posters
Page 2
Sheffield Hallam University
Developing a
poster design
The 'thumb nail' layout task brings together the preliminary work
and encourages pupils to use the quick designerly style shown in
the examples on the 'sketch pad'. The method of recording ideas
also draws on the analysis task on page 5. During this
development stage pupils can be directed to page 12 which is
about Adding Movement . Many D&T text books have sections
dealing with mechanisms and more able pupils can be directed to
these as further research activities.
Modelling
mechanisms
When producing an interactive poster, modelling the mechanisms
to ensure that it can be made to work well is an essential element.
Simple mechanisms incorporating sliders, levers and simple
rotary motion are ideal in providing an interactive element to the
poster design. Good quality card is a suitable material for
modelling ideas, as are lolly pop sticks, art straws, thin
polystyrene sheet and rolled paper tubes. Temporary joining
devices such as brass bifurcated clips, paper clips and ‘bulldog’
type clips enable pupils to realise their ideas effectively. Double
sided tape, glue guns and spray adhesive can be used when
assembling these mechanisms.
Health and safety
note
Modelling activities often include using craft knives and this
introduces health and safety risks into the project. The use of
cutting mats and safety rulers goes some way to reduce this risk.
Similarly, the use of a 'glue booth' to catch over spray is essential
to minimise risk.
Further
development
To provide further differentiation or to extend the activity, it is
possible to develop the interactive aspect of poster design by
using membrane switches (simply made using card and
aluminium foil) and LEDs or bulbs to illuminate specific features of
the posters. Self-adhesive copper tape can be used to produce
membrane switches and 'printed circuits' on the reverse side of
the poster.
The Gallery
The Gallery has been referred to earlier but is included at this
point to enable pupils to revisit several aspects of the learning
before they move towards developing their own design. The
examples have been selected as they transmit a range of
powerful messages in visually stimulating ways. The questions
for pupils are designed to stimulate discussion and provide further
help with their thinking and decision making prior to finalising their
designs.
The designing activities are finalised on pages 13 and 14 but,
again, this space should not be seen as limiting. Pupils can
attach extra pages as appropriate. This provides an additional
and valuable record of their progress.
DesignAgainstCrime – Posters
Page 3
Sheffield Hallam University
Making the
posters
Evaluating the
outcomes
It is essential that pupils are provided with good quality
appropriate materials that will enable them to realise their work to
a good standard. Card is readily available but teachers may wish
to consider using model board as an alternative. Illustrations and
text for the posters can be carried out by hand or by using ICT
packages such as ‘Corel Draw’, ‘Photoshop’, ‘Draw’ etc. A
combination of techniques should be encouraged as this enables
pupils to produce quality outcomes and demonstrate a range of
abilities.
As with many D&T activities, evaluation of work involves pupils
making judgements against criteria and/or about making
comparisons. The criteria together with the mark bands are set
out in the workbook and on the evaluation slips provided in this
booklet. Pupils should display their own work and then assess a
number of their peers’ posters. Teachers will need to decide on
the number to ensure the task can be completed in the time
available.
The evaluation could be conducted in this manner:






DesignAgainstCrime – Posters
Pupils set out their poster for evaluation
They are put into pairs and each pair given a number of
evaluation slips, for example eight
Each pair then evaluates eight pieces of work and allocates a
mark in each band, using only the marks indicated (10, 7, 5 or
3)
Pupils then collect together the evaluation slips that contain
the marks for their own poster and record the marks in their
workbook
They then complete the arithmetic and determine a final mark
for each aspect of their work.
An overall mark out of 10 can be calculated by dividing the row
totals by 6 (or, if there is no mechanism, by 5)
Page 4
Sheffield Hallam University
The Crossword
The DesignAgainstCrime crossword includes words about poster
design, crime and D&T activities. This can be set as a homework
task. The solution is provided below:
V
A
N
R
P
I
D
A
L
E
C
I
F
P
G
R
E
H
A
R
T
I
N
Evaluation tasks
T
R
N
A
E
N
M
I
A
S
P
R
K
E
Y
S
R
F
T
S
E
K
A
G
O
I
R
M
A
U
A
M
S
A
A
L
I
L
E
D
O
N
E
F
T
F
T
H
I
T
A
Y
P
A
I
I
N
T
T
M
The final page of the workbook is provided for pupils to further
reflect on crime issues. The focus is on the effects of crime and
the seriousness of offences. It is about pupils being able to
establish an understanding of the issues through consideration
and group discussion.
Pupils should be encouraged to put forward, discuss and modify
their views. It is important, therefore, that teachers prepare
themselves for the range of responses that may emerge. Pupils
should determine a considered response before they finalise the
entry for their own workbook.
Displaying the
posters
DesignAgainstCrime – Posters
It is worth considering that funds may be available to develop and
teach citizenship within the context of subject activities. A display
in a prominent part of your school may provide an opportunity for
D&T teachers to show the contribution that the subject can make
to developing aspects of citizenship.
Page 5
Sheffield Hallam University
Poster Evaluation Slip
Look at each poster in turn and give a mark as follows (Only use these marks):
Excellent:
10
Good:
7
Satisfactory:
5
Name of
Poster Designer:
Poor:
3
Mark out of
10
How well does the poster convey the message?
How well does the layout work?
How well is the poster made?
How well does the lettering style reinforce the message?
How effective is the use of colour?
How well does the mechanism work (if there is one)?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poster Evaluation Slip
Look at each poster in turn and give a mark as follows (Only use these marks):
Excellent:
10
Good:
7
Satisfactory:
5
Name of
Poster Designer:
Poor:
3
Mark out of
10
How well does the poster convey the message?
How well does the layout work?
How well is the poster made?
How well does the lettering style reinforce the message?
How effective is the use of colour?
How well does the mechanism work (if there is one)?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poster Evaluation Slip
Look at each poster in turn and give a mark as follows (Only use these marks):
Excellent:
10
Good:
7
Satisfactory:
Name of
Poster Designer:
How well does the poster convey the message?
How well does the layout work?
How well is the poster made?
How well does the lettering style reinforce the message?
How effective is the use of colour?
How well does the mechanism work (if there is one)?
5
Poor:
3
Mark out of
10