We were asked to encourage more people in Wellington to cycle more often by showing the general benefits of riding a bike, and to highlight how the new bike paths will help to make travel easier for everyone once they are built. Wellington’s population is growing, and more people are moving through our city than ever before. To help address this, Wellington City Council is gradually developing a cycle network to ensure getting about by bike is a safe and viable transport choice for people of all ages and abilities.
Our task was to use the ‘Easy As’ concept and messaging, developed together with a partner studio, to create a design communication that would appeal to people who already cycle and those who would like to, as well as people who walk, use public transport or drive cars. The communication also needed to appeal to local residents and businesses that may be wary of change and likely to focus on the disruption and inconvenience.
To encourage more people to see cycling as a viable transport choice, it was vital to take an inclusive approach and show a range of people riding different types of bikes and enjoying the benefits cycling can bring. We also had to consider the existing illustrative style used by the Council for other sustainable transport collateral, and the standard look and feel used for community engagement on cycling infrastructure projects. To balance the conversations happening in Wellington about cycling infrastructure, we needed to focus on the benefits to people of riding a bike. To do this, our design communication would need to feel human and relatable. Our concept was to use quotes from people about why they choose to ride a bike, supported by appealing illustrations that would use humour to release the tension that accompanies cycling as a topic of discussion.
Clear and simple, easy as. These qualities informed the development of a soft and playful illustration style that portrayed cycling as inclusive and approachable – something almost anyone can do. We depicted a wide range of people, so Wellingtonians could see themselves in the characters, and recognise that cyclists are just everyday people on bikes. Our text treatment prioritised clarity and readability, with each piece of collateral communicating a single benefit. Collectively, these easy-to-digest ‘bites’ of information told the broader story: that cycling is an normal activity, and an ‘easy as’ transport choice.