Official Community Plan gets visual – City of Chilliwack

The City of Chilliwack needed unique visuals to explain the new Official Community Plan (OCP). An Official Community Plan sets the vision for the next 30 years – and it’s an important time for residents speak up. But not everyone wants to read a long report.

With hand-drawn illustrations and graphic recording techniques, dense OCP information is easy to read.

Here’s what I did. First, I read the public OCP documents. Lots of information to sift through. My background as a graphic recorder comes in handy because I’m used to structuring and organizing information visually. Working with the City of Chilliwack, I highlighted the important messages and created plain-language. Then in my studio, I illustrated two giant posters. Each poster was 7 feet across and drawn entirely by hand. These hand-made drawings are welcoming – putting a friendly face on important, dense information.

It’s easier for visual learners to understand, and the top-level highlights in the Plan are all here.

The City is using the visuals online: http://www.chilliwack.ca/main/page.cfm?id=2384