Artist Statement
Violence has always been an aspect of life, we see it on TV, newspapers, articles online, and sometimes in person. A hospital is the last place we would expect violence to occur, but now places of healing and recovery are facing the increased problems of violence. Healthcare workers face some of the toughest challenges in their fields; saving lives, taking care of the sick, and healing people. Yet they increasingly find themselves in situations they aren’t expected to face when entering the workforce. These issues can cause burnout, high turnovers, and lack of adequate care to patients (“Survey: Nurses Burning out at Unsustainable Rate.”). This issue resonates with me because I have family members and friends who work in the medical field. This project is meant to increase awareness of the problem and bring light to solutions that will help healthcare workers counteract violence at work. These violence incidents range from minor acts such as hitting, pushing, slapping, pinching, and biting to more severe incidents such as sexual assault, property damage, and involving weapons (Crouch). Nonphysical violence includes verbal abuse, threats, and intimidation. These are categorized by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): “Type I: Involves “criminal intent.” In this type of workplace violence, “individuals with criminal intent have no relationship to the business or its employees.”, Type II: Involves a customer, client, or patient. In this type, an “individual has a relationship with the business and becomes violent while receiving services.”, Type III: Violence involves a “worker-on-worker” relationship and includes “employees who attack or threaten another employee.”, Type IV: Violence involves personal relationships. It includes “individuals who have interpersonal relationships with the intended target but no relationship to the business” (American Nurses Association).
The approaches I made presenting my project are interactive and awareness-based functions. These would increase the audiences’ attention to details on the subject of violence in hospitals and how it impacts the lives of healthcare workers. The audience the project caters to is the general public and healthcare workers from different fields. The goal of this project is to have the viewer understand the content and allow them to grasp the problem visually first and then guide them through the context. In other words, using visual elements to guide the eye to the typography or body paragraph that explains the in-depth issue. Having the audience have a good sense of what they’re looking at before reading the context is helpful so they can understand the theme visually. The design products presented are different in terms of media but still visually relate to one another, some being linked to the next product. The strongest visual components are the colors (Blue and Red), typography, and the symbolism of the logo consisting of the heart and abstract design as the overall brand. For the three projects these components allow consistency and recognition for the brand, psychologically informing the viewer as medically related.
Poster Designs
The Poster Design is supposedly the first eye catcher for the audience, helping them understand firsthand what they’re looking at before moving on to the next product. The poster contains secondary links or guides that will lead to the other two products of the project. The choice of imagery and style is supposed to resonate as medical, using clean cut with some bold sans serif typography that would enable readability. For the images specifically, a comic-like design would give the viewer a sense of personality and individuality of the healthcare workers shown in the posters. As an emotional impact, two of the posters convey empowerment and confidence, giving positive insight while one conveys the reality of how healthcare workers are hurting from the ongoing problem with violence in the workplace, using a negative connotative image to display this reality.
UI/UX Design
Simple User Journey Map
High Fidelity Wireframes
Homepage
Account Page
Navigation
Ping Identifiers & Safety Codes Areas
Learning Self-Defense
Contacts
Resources
Video Navigation of the Unity App
The UX/UI product is entirely focused on healthcare workers' needs. An app that helps give informational instruction on self defense, a map that displays safe areas, and reporting incidents at a hospital in Charlotte. For the interactive maps, its main function is for the user to select different hospitals within Charlotte in a drop-down selection. With one selected, it takes the user to that map page that shows the safety meter, this helps the user to assess how safe it is and if there are any nearby pings. Today, many hospitals go by a grade scale (A-F), which also measures safety in the area (Moore). This was used as an inspiration for one of the main functions of the app. For the self-defense page, this shows instructional ways of protecting oneself from harm, and helping to fight back against violence. Aspects of this page closely references the functionality of the popular fitness app Planet Fitness (Mobile App), in the sections of 5-11 minute mini exercises that show up on the main page. I used that same idea for some self-defense moves that are popular today. One of the final functions the app also has is reporting incidents or having an SOS option for an emergency, the SOS option takes you straight to the phone dial and automatically dials the 911 emergency hotline.
Infographics
The Infographic visually shows data of the extent of violence going in North Carolina. Using references to the latest legislations for violence against healthcare workers, these data representations are displayed in six different social media graphics (Alder). They are 1048 x 1048 pixels and stay within the project brand guidelines. Each graphic consistently shows an emphasis on the typography, each word different sizes but distinctive ones that bring the most weight to the overall subject of the project; violence being one of the most emphasized words in the graphics. Bringing importance to solving the issue and bringing awareness using the power of typography is the primary function of this product. These are intended to be posted as carousel-style instagram posts that people will see as advertisements as they are scrolling casually on the platform.
Design Development
The BFA Exhibition featuring the Unity project displaying promotional products at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
In conclusion, the main takeaways these three product designs exemplify is knowledge and facts showing the complexities of violence against healthcare workers. The basis of this project was utilizing graphic design tools and using the elements of design (color, hierarchy, typography, etc.) to visually represent this community professionally. This project is meant for grasping the problem and understanding the serious impacts this topic has to show. Having the capability of engaging with the products and understanding the importance of allowing more healthcare workers in the future to have more power for their own safety. This would (hopefully) enforce more positive changes to occur in the workforce. Making a difference in creating a foundational support, by displaying my product designs, is what will help gain awareness and future changes to violence in the workforce.
Bibliography
Moore, Evan. “These Are the Safest Hospitals in NC, Report Says. See If Yours Made the List.” Charlotte Observer, 6 May 2025, www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article305809206.html.
“Survey: Nurses Burning out at Unsustainable Rate.” North Carolina Nurses Association, 2018, www.ncnurses.org/about-ncna/latest-news-archive/survey-nurses-burning-out-at-unsustainable-rate/.
American Nurses Association. “Workplace Violence.” American Nurses Association, Mar. 2021, www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/state/workplace-violence2/.
Crouch Michelle. “Cursed at. Shoved. Punched. Bitten. Violence against doctors and nurses is rising. A new N.C. law aims to help protect them.” WUNC, 6 November 2023. https://www.wunc.org/health/2023-11-06/violence-against-doctors-nurses-hospital-workers-rising-new-nc-law-aims-protect
Alder, Steve. “Legislation Introduced to Make Violence against Healthcare Workers a Federal Crime.” The HIPAA Journal, 17 June 2025, www.hipaajournal.com/save-healthcare-workers-act-2025/.
“Mobile App | Planet Fitness.” Www.planetfitness.com, www.planetfitness.com/mobileapp.
