Today, the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, CMPI, is launching a new program that takes a careful and candid look at just what you get via government-run (aka “Universal”) healthcare. The project is called, BigGovHealth.org.
The Washington, DC premiere is being held tonight at the National Press Club with guests Congressman John Shadegg, former Senator Don Nickles and other healthcare players; there is even a presidential candidate on the RSVP list.
When it comes to healthcare reform, BigGovHealth.org is Cinéma-vérité.
We worked with CMPI on branding, information architecture, content editing, video editing, visual design and development. The site is currently being powered by WordPress.
Antoine
June 23rd 2008
Nice! Very clean and inviting. I wish more organizations would seek this level of quality with their web presence.
Not sure I agree with the mission and message completely but I definitely appreciate the open discussion. It’s a topic worthy of some quality dialog.
Job well done and congrats on the launch.
Martin Ringlein
June 23rd 2008
Thanks @antoine — the project was a great one with respect to creative freedom and having the ability to really help bring the content to life through the design.
John C. Riley
June 23rd 2008
This is where I think we as designers can do the most damage. Regardless of what you think about socialized health care, this site contains nothing but cherry-picked scare anecdotes masquerading as evenhanded analysis. There is no counterpoint.
At what point do designers (and more realistically, studio principals) have a moral responsibility to reject dishonest ideas? It’s a beautiful site, but I would find it hard to muster much pride in a job well done dressing up a pig.
Martin Ringlein
June 23rd 2008
John,
You bring up an excellent point — one we’ve thought about writing or speaking on many times; a highly sensitive and debated topic!
We hold no political agenda and professionally take no sides on any issue regardless of our personal opinions. We have made it a professional stance to not contribute to anything illegal or pornographic — or anything that promotes either of those two things. This topic came up a bit when we launched the Museum of Sex redesign.
But, we do strongly believe that all should have a voice and be able to express that voice — and if they value strong design in an effort to help that voice, we believe it is right (regardless of personal opinion) to help others have a voice with a professional appeal.
We understand that health care issues are a sensitive topic and Michael Moore has helped bring the concerns to the fore-front of the masses; but again, we take no side on issues such as these but are there to help those who have taken a side and wish to present that side.
Again, I acknowledge that this a highly debated topic and there are valid arguments for both sides; but this is the stance we’ve taken as a professional organization. But for what it is worth, we are not a money hungry agency, we have turned down projects in the past because the subject matter was too questionable for us to feel comfortable.
Thank you for the comment though!
John C. Riley
June 23rd 2008
I’m shocked my comment wasn’t simply deleted, so I give you and nclud a great deal of respect for running a commercial blog open to conflicting ideas.
You said “…we take no side on issues such as these but are there to help those who have taken a side and wish to present that side.”
That sounds mercenary. Design is powerful, particularly in the hands of designers as skilled as you and your team. Regardless of client or project, how can you ignore the conflict between what you believe and what you do professionally?
Martin Ringlein
June 23rd 2008
Thanks for the respect regarding how we run our ‘blog’ … we’ve always said we wanted to be a transparent agency and we try very hard to be. Again, you have a voice and we respect your ability to share that voice.
I totally acknowledge your point and it is completely valid. But I do think it is important for us to separate our personal opinions from that of our perspective clients in business. We are designers and consultants, we know what is best for visual design, information architecture and the user experience — but it isn’t our place to say what is right or wrong with respect to political or social issues.
I am going to censor myself actually, LOL. I’d be happy to continue this discussion (in a broader sense) off-site if you want to start a dialogue elsewhere. But out of respect for the client, I will leave my last comment as my final; I wouldn’t want any remarks to be construed as me acting as a spokesperson on behalf of BigGovHealth or CMPI. I also don’t want to imply that we agree with or disagree with the subject matter within the site.