How to create your hospital s Champion posters

Transcription

1 JUST CLEAN YOUR HANDS LAVEZ-VOUS LES MAINS How to create your hospital s Champion posters Comment créer les affiches sur les «champions» de votre hôpital THANK YOU FOR CLEANING YOUR HANDS. WE DO. SO CAN YOU. I CLEAN MY HANDS. SO CAN YOU. JE ME LAVE LES MAINS. ET VOUS? JUST CLEAN YOUR HANDS JUST CLEAN YOUR HANDS

2 How to create your hospital s Champion posters Champion posters are an important and effective element of the Just Clean Your Hands program. Champions are health care providers who publicly share their commitment to improving hand hygiene practise in the hospital. They not only lend invaluable on-the-ground support, they also can help to keep the Just Clean Your Hands message top of mind, day-in and day-out, through a Champion poster like one of those below. Digital photography and computers have greatly simplified the creation of high-quality Champion posters at an affordable cost. There are three key ingredients: 1. A digital photograph of your Champion(s). 2. A poster headline. 3. The enclosed Create a Champion Poster CD which provides poster templates or size specifications, type size requirements and other production elements.

3 How to take a great picture You don t need to engage a professional photographer to get a great picture. A simple snapshot is not only easier to arrange, it also can provide the perfect result. Ensuring a high quality image These simple steps will help to ensure you take a high quality Champion photo suitable for your poster: 1. Take a high resolution digital colour photograph of your Champion and/or Champions. To ensure quality reproduction, use a camera with at least 4 Megapixels and select the highest quality picture image setting: usually the FINE setting. If you are using a zoom camera, only employ the optical zoom, DO NOT USE A DIGITAL ZOOM. Picture composition Use the photos in the sample posters shown above as guides for composing the photo of your Champion(s). We recommend that you show the champion s hands in the photograph best without rings, watches or bracelets. When photographing a single Champion limit the composition to a headand-upper-torso perspective. Pin a Just Clean Your Hands lapel pin on the left side. Minimize background elements and keep the focus directly on the picture subject (if your camera allows you to set the f-stop, keep it at a low setting which sharpens focus in the foreground and softens the background).

4 When photographing multiple Champions in one picture, keep the composition as tight to the team as possible. Your goal is a photo that makes each person s face readily identifiable. To do that, group the Champions to minimize the width of the picture and keep background to a minimum. A guideline is to start framing the photo as a head-and-shoulders shot of the person in the centre of the picture and then expanding the focal range until all individuals are included; no further. Again, ensure that each Champion is wearing a Just Clean Your Hands button on their left side and that the button is visible on each person in the photo. In either case, shoot for a photo that presents the Champion(s) as vibrant and animated. The picture should not be a mug shot. Don t be afraid to have a little fun with it. Release form Before the poster is produced, you should obtain the Champion s signed approval for the use of their photo and keep this authorization on file. It is a prudent legal step. A sample Release Form is attached in the event your hospital does not have its own form for this purpose. Poster headline Your hospital s Champion posters can be created using the headline as presented in the sample layouts, i.e., I/We do. So can you, or your Champion can write their own. If your Champion opts to write a headline, it must be brief. The rule of thumb for a poster is no more than five words in the headline to ensure legibility. The mantra is: Less is More.

5 Version one if you do not have a graphics specialist on staff On the CD you have a Word document for the Champion poster. This document has the Just Clean Your Hands graphics embedded but allows you to add your headline and your photo. When you open the poster Word document you will see that they have fixed graphics in them and indicate where you should type in your headline or message. There is a rectangular area on the Word document where you need to double click to insert your photo. Importable picture formats are JPG, TIF, EMF, BMP, GIF or EPS. Once the headline and photo has been inserted into the document you can print the poster using your hospital printer. If you want several good quality colour prints, make a copy of your poster on a CD and bring them to your local copy shop. If you have the address of the copy shop you can send it to them electronically. Version two if you have a graphics specialist on staff or the budget to hire one Digital photography and computers have greatly simplified the creation of high-quality Champion posters at an affordable cost. There are five key ingredients: A digital photograph of your Champion(s). A poster headline. The enclosed Create a Champion Poster CD which provides poster templates or size specifications, type size requirements and other production elements.

6 A graphics specialist who has access to, and working knowledge of, a program like Adobe InDesign CS 2 in MAC or PC, Corel Draw, Quark, etc. If your hospital does not have such a specialist, you will need to contract with an outside supplier. A local print supplier who can produce high quality colour laser or inkjet posters. In many cases these suppliers also may be able to provide the graphic services referenced above. Each of these key ingredients is discussed in greater detail below. 1. Create a high resolution digital file of your Champion(s) photo. A minimum PDF size for an 8" x 10" photo at 300 dpi would be 2400 x 3000 pixels. RAW or TIFF format images are usually of higher quality and would be a preferable format if available. 2. Forward the high resolution digital file of your photo(s) to your hospital s graphics specialist or your outside graphics supplier. delivery is the simplest method of forwarding but if you prefer to use land-based delivery, burn the digital photo file to a CD and forward the CD. In the event that you are unable to digital files or to provide a CD, your printer may be able to work with a conventional colour photo. In that case, we highly recommend an 8" x 10" matte finish original to ensure the final poster image is of an acceptable quality.

7 Using the enclosed CD to put it all together The enclosed CD contains all the information that your graphic artist will need to bring together headline, photograph, poster design and art elements into a high resolution electronic file of your final poster for forwarding to your printer. Using templates provided on the CD, your artist will be able to create poster files in three sizes: 8½" w x 11" h 11" w x 17" h 18" w x 24" h. The artist will create a high resolution PDF of each individual poster using your photograph and headline along with art elements provided on the CD. The PDF file(s) can be delivered to your designated print supplier by or by burning a CD of the assembled poster. The CD provides two folders, each containing the same source material but created for different programs. Your graphics supplier should access the folder that meets his/her requirements. Folder 1 provides all the digital assets in Adobe InDesign CS 2 for MAC or PC. In each of the three templates, one for each poster size, there is For Position Only headline text and a For Position Only picture image. The graphic artist would open the files, import the photo you have provided and type in the headline you have specified. They would then collect the file for output or create a high resolution PDF for forwarding to your designated printer.

8 Folder 2 provides the elements as EPS vector files in the event your graphic artist is unable to work with Adobe InDesign files. The EPS vector files can be imported in whichever program your graphic artist is using to create the poster, e.g., Corel Draw, Quark, etc. The CD also provides a one-page guideline with a breakdown of the background colour, text specifications and margin measurements. The template files are not provided in the Folder 2 option. The graphic artist will need to create their own template files from scratch, based on the guidelines and the artwork that are provided on the CD in their specific graphics software. Once the template(s) is created, the photograph and headline copy would be inserted. The file can then be collected for output or a high resolution PDF or CD can be created to forward to your designated printer. Your graphics specialist Your hospital may have a graphic artist on staff. If so you should discuss your needs with him/her to determine if the required graphics work can be provided in-house or whether you need to engage an outside supplier. If you do not have a graphic artist on staff, you will need to source an outside supplier. A good starting point is a local printer. Quick print outlets like The Printing House or Kinkos often provide these services or can put you in touch with a graphic artist. You also can check the Yellow Pages under Graphic Arts. Ideally, you should aim to secure the services of an artist who would take responsibility for all your Champion poster needs. Not only will this help to ensure graphic consistency, it also should result in cost-saving benefits.

9 To ensure your posters are created as desired, ensure your graphics specialist provides you with low resolution PDFs for your approval before the high resolution files are forwarded to your designated printer. Your printing supplier In all likelihood, you will require an outside printing supplier to meet your needs. A local quick print outlet likely will be capable of meeting your needs for the low-cost, quick turnaround of what will be a relatively small print run. The printer you choose should have the capability of providing high quality posters in all three sizes. While 8½" w x 11" h and 11" w x 17" h posters can be produced on a high quality colour inkjet printer, the 18" w x 24" h posters need to be produced on a high quality colour laser printer. Do not be tempted to stick only with the smaller sizes for the convenience of printing. Larger 18" w x 24" h posters are more effective in standing out and proved to be very popular when tested. You also need to pay close attention to the paper stock on which you are printing. You want a sufficiently heavy stock to ensure the inks do not bleed and that the posters themselves are wear-and-tear resistant. You may also choose to have each poster laminated in a plastic casing to ensure it will stand up to cleaning.

10 Hanging your Champion posters Finally, you need to choose the method of attaching the posters to your walls. Don t limit the postings to notice boards. We recommend posting in hallways throughout the hospital to create impact and a sense that you see a poster everywhere you go. You may wish to use UHU Tack, a putty-like substance. Some hospitals used double-sided tape for hanging posters. However, double-sided tape can result in wall damage unless it is removed very carefully. Another option is to place permanent frames on the walls which allow the posters to be slipped in from the side or top. Check with your printer to discuss recommended options and consult with your maintenance staff to determine what attachment device is right for your hospital.