Every Picture Tells a Story, and Nowhere More Important Than in Health

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn | Health Populi | October 27, 2011

A picture’s not only worth the proverbial thousand words, but can save a life. So can a t-shirt…er, TeachShirt. At the Unniched meeting held on 25 October 2011 in NYC, I spent a few minutes talking with two members of Zemoga‘s brain trust: Sven Larsen, Chief Marketing Office, and the firm’s Principal Design guru, Dan Licht.

We discussed how design is so critical a factor in health, and in life– particularly, in DIY health, where we are all taking on more responsibility for our own health care — clinical, financial, mental, social.

Among Zemoga’s colorful and uber-creative portfolio is its concept, the TeachShirt (say it fast out loud, and you’ll get the intended pun). I will be proud to wear my very cool CPR TeachShirt, shown in the photo.

The simple elegance of the shirt is that, instead of posting CPR instructions on a billboard or website, people wearing the shirt socialize the health information as they move about in their communities. Thus, important health messages get into peoples’ mindsets, and health literacy organically spreads...