Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) is a significant focus for many organisations.

Ensuring visual communication accurately reflects differences amongst members of a team does not need to be a complex process. At Inky Thinking we have been partnering with clients to ensure that mirroring diversity in a range of visual assets, such as illustration and animation, is done right first time, meaning you will not have difficult conversations later.

The examples below are taken from a recent project for women’s health where Jen Backman created a range of images to reflect diversity for this critical topic.

Jen Backman, our own inclusion champion offers these 5 tips for successful Inclusion & Diversity in visual communication.

1. Start the project off right – spend time in the early stages carefully considering your target audience. Ask for a second opinion to check your thinking.

2. Try it yourself – how would you represent all the different groups within your audience? Having a go at drawing yourself will help you understand differences more clearly.

3. Work with the experts – if you have them, include your I&D team and/or champions at the outset. When working with potentially sensitive subjects a ‘sensitivity reader’ (someone who understands the context and group needs) will help you ensure your communication is spot on.

4. Avoid I&D stereotypes and tokenism – remember that there are many aspects to difference including age, body size and shape, gender and sexuality, ethnicities and backgrounds, and those who are differently abled.

5. Be an I&D advocate – role model I&D so that everyone knows that, whatever project you touch, I&D is always standard.

If you have further questions on how to illustrate and communicate Inclusion and Diversity or would like Jen’s illustration support with your next project, please email hello@inkythinking.com.