Findings
Sequences of illustrations without text can be used to provide
information to illiterate women farmers on simple agroforestry techniques.
The development of appropriate illustrations should involve the
intended user group, be locally and culturally appropriate, and
guidance must be given on the method of sequencing the pictures.
Only simple techniques are suitable for illustration and subjects
must be avoided if they are likely to be misinterpreted, especially
if this could cause harm to individuals or the environment.
Although the skills of the artist are important, the women's ability
to understand illustrations depended on numerous other factors.
These factors include: previous experience of seeing and using pictures;
the women's practical skills; their experience of the subject shown
in the picture; their ability to visualise an object or situation;
and age (old women often found the task more difficult).
Black and white illustrations provide less information than colour
illustrations but are cheaper to reproduce and therefore more likely
to be made available to rural women farmers. Line drawings provide
information about shape but it is often difficult for a person looking
at a picture to distinguish the object from the background. This
task was made easier by adding shading, or blocks of colour.
Very few drawing and painting materials can be used effectively
for shading black and white illustrations that are intended for
photocopy reproduced. The most appropriate method of black and white
illustration intended for photocopy reproduction was found to be
free hand line drawing enhanced using computer graphic shading.
Computer graphics for development illustrations are an option for
development organisation that currently use computers in their project
offices. Many of these machines will already have simple graphics
packages installed. At present there is little evidence that the
opportunities for using this form of media for development illustration
have been explored. |
