Hospital Art Studio Blog

HM YOUNG OFFENDERS INSTITUTION – POSTERS TO GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS

5 November 2009

When young 15-21 year old males, are first admitted to a young offenders institution they often feel afraid and intimidated. Some are illiterate and some have never visited a doctor before in their lives. Attention grabbing, thought provoking, but self-explanatory displays were needed in the health centre at the Wetherby Young Offenders Institution in West Yorkshire, to give these young men the confidence and reassurance to seek help if unsure about any of the health issues raised.

There are various rooms at the health centre, each specialising in separate health issues. Each area required wall displays to explain in a simple, direct and visual way what services are available. We designed 11 displays altogether to resemble film or modern culture posters that youngsters might have on their own bedroom walls at home – this is why we employed not just one style of illustration but a variety.

These are high quality photographic, fade resistant prints, reverse mounted onto tough and durable polycarbonate, providing a permanent display that is both attractive and challenging. Unfortunately we cannot show you how the displays look at Wetherby Young Offenders due to the high level of security, so this is just a mock-up.