Department of Homeland Security Graphics

Canines detection dogs have important jobs. Sometimes public safety is on the line. Dogs are employed by law enforcement, military, and federal agencies to detect narcotics, explosives, and firearms. Research is an crucial piece of the puzzle to make sure the dogs perform optimally. Then that research must be dispersed to various agencies and handlers to ensure best practices.

I worked with two professors at Texas Tech University, Dr. Nathan Hall and Dr. Paola Prada-Tiedeman, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to condense over 100 pages of technical research into a carousel and infographic. These graphics were utilized in email, social media, and posted on the DHS website.

The stakeholders required the documents to be Section 508 compliant, with approved color contrast ratios, alt text for images, and text-to-speech compatibility.

I used Adobe Illustrator to draw custom illustrations. We wanted them to be simple and clean since we knew the slides would be text heavy. I then chose a carousel rather than the proposed infographic format, so the content could be chunked and easily digested by the target audience. I designed the carousel and infographic in Adobe InDesign. The graphics’ dimenstions were optimal for mobile viewing, but compatible with desktop viewing as well. I presented both formats to the stakeholders. All agreed on the carousel format.

The published carousel is on the DHS website here.