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Public Health Barbie

Catching the trend in a way only a fashion designer and health communicator can

 

​Using my background in fashion design and character design, I drew an inclusive range of models in outfits inspired by Global Health NOW’s 100 Objects That Shaped Public Health. I made a Carousel and a Reel.

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To appeal to audiences of different styles, each Barbie design was inspired by a different fashion designer:

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In order to appeal to our primarily Millennial demographic, I drew in an art style was inspired by the Barbie illustrations of the 90's:

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Restaurant Report Card Barbie was inspired by this ensemble from Jean Paul Gaultier's Fall 2019 collection, the design of actual restaurant report cards, American streetwear, and the checkerboard pattern on pizza boxes.

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Seatbelt Barbie was inspired by the suits and accessories in Chanel's Spring 1992 collection.

Representation in health communication and character design

 

Several groups of people are underrepresented in medical illustration and entertainment. Furthermore, depictions of women are even more constrained. With this post, I wanted to reflect diversity in the Barbies depicted.

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Engagement Strategy: a three-layered approach to increase comments

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The engagement strategy was to encourage comments in three ways:

  1. The Reel and Carousel ask the user to comment which Barbie they are or which their favorite is.

  2. By basing designs on the "100 Objects that Shaped Public Health," users commented which objects should be featured next. Related, featuring unexpected objects (like Loaf of Bread Barbie) piqued users' curiosity in the comments.

  3. The representation and detail in each Barbie design encouraged users to point out what they noticed or appreciated.

Here are the numbers...

Performance data from Meta Business Suite.

Instagram (Carousel)

  • Reach: 64,676*

  • Impressions: 83,732*

  • Likes: 8,446*

  • Comments: 101*

  • Shares: 3,261*

  • Saves: 951*

Instagram (Reel)

  • Reach: 41,025*

  • Impressions: 47,308*

  • Plays: 45,315

  • Likes: 1,811

  • Comments: 29*

  • Shares: 509*

  • Saves: 121

* Higher than the typical post from BSPH

...And here are the designs

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