RNLI's Sand Art Safety Messages

Having been part of Phase 1 of the Design Out Drowning project, headed up by Made Open, it has been great to see the RLNI trialling a new way of delivering safety messages on Cornish beaches.

The Design Out Drowning programme has been led by the RNLI and supported by community partners, working to find creative solutions to the drowning problem. As part of the research team, I worked alongside colleagues to gather stories, information and data to better inform the creation of a series of design briefs. These briefs were then released to the creative community across Cornwall, searching for ideas that could reduce the risk of drowning.

The RNLI then shortlisted the applicants, inviting them to take part in a ‘collaborative sprint’ to discuss their proposals in depth and start to experiment with their ideas. After an open vote, David Revell from Imagemakers’s Sand Art Safety Messaging concept was selected.

Since then, the RNLI has been trialling the idea. It was great to happen upon one of these experiments at Bedruthan Steps yesterday, where members of the public were encouraged to leave the beach at 2pm to avoid potential tidal cut-off.

For more information about Design Out Drowning and other projects, you can drop the team a line at dod@rnli.org.uk.