Illustrations for SB20 rule book
(Illustration Case Study)
The Client
The SB20 class of racing yacht has an overall size of 6m (length) by 2.5 m (beam). It is a generously sized small yacht/large dinghy, comfortable to sail with 3 people, economic to buy and maintain, and easily trailable behind a car. As a result it has proved to be a very popular little racing yacht.
The Challenge
The SB20 class is an international class of racing yacht and as such the rules for racing need to be clear to all participants no matter what nationality. The organisers of races were finding that many nationalities were having difficulty interpreting the class rules and there was a need to clarify them to help those nationalities whose first language wasn't English.
The Solution
It was decided to create an illustrated 'Crew Positioning' advice document with simple illustrations to give an unambiguous and slightly humorous view of what was within and outside specific hard to describe rules. This is where I worked with Paul Hine (the UK SB20 chairman) to develop a series of cartoon illustrations for this purpose. Paul produced some basic stick men illustrations which I then worked up into the several cartoon style illustrations for the guide. Small details are important when undertaking work like this so I made sure that the yacht in the illustrations was clearly an SB20.
The Result
The final images went down a storm and have now been incorporated within the 'Crew Positioning' document. As a result it is now much easier for all nationalities to understand rules that can be quite difficult to describe in just words.
