John Haller Design

Thesis

Using Visual Language to Reduce Patient Barriers and Medication Errors

MFA Thesis · Visual Communication Design · Kent State University · 2022

My graduate research explored how typography, information hierarchy, and label orientation could help patients locate and understand prescription information. The project approached the prescription label as a design problem: how can a small, curved surface communicate information that people need to use medication safely?

The problem

Prescription labels bring together patient information, medication instructions, pharmacy details, and other content within a limited space. My investigation examined how small type, competing priorities, and text wrapping around a bottle could complicate reading. Conversations with people with low vision helped focus the project on legibility and the physical experience of finding information.

The design approach

I developed a label prototype that gave greater prominence to the information patients need to identify and take their medication. The design combined larger typography, a revised information hierarchy, visual cues for medication administration, and Atkinson Hyperlegible—a typeface with distinctive letterforms that help differentiate similar characters.

The prototype also changed the text’s orientation. With the bottle held sideways, readers could view complete lines and rotate the bottle to move through the information. This approach explored how an existing prescription bottle could support a different reading experience without requiring a new container.

Redesigned prescription label prototype: patient name at top, the drug name Famotidine on a yellow band, dose and manufacturer, the instruction “Take one tablet by mouth two times a day with a meal” in large type, four boxes showing doses for morning, midday, evening and bedtime, then quantity, refills, doctor and fill date, with pharmacy details at the bottom.
Redesigned prescription label prototype (thesis Figure 6)
Two prescription bottles showing the redesigned thesis label in two rotational views
Label prototype shown in two rotational views. The text is oriented for reading with the bottle held sideways; rotating the bottle reveals successive sections. Digital mockup of the thesis label design.

The investigation

The study combined physical label prototypes, a computerized questionnaire, a four-minute captioned and narrated educational video, and follow-up conversations. Participants answered questions using conventional and redesigned labels before and after viewing the video. The questions examined their ability to locate and interpret information such as dosage, refill availability, and the prescribing physician.

Participant feedback identified larger type and ease of reading as appealing features. The conversations also revealed opportunities for refinement, including changes to the medication-administration graphics and, in a separate interview, a pharmacist’s concern about space for warnings.

Contribution and limitations

The project connects graphic design practice with questions of accessibility, health literacy, and patient communication. Its contribution includes a label prototype and a research process for examining how people interact with prescription information.

The findings should be treated as exploratory. The study does not establish that the redesigned label reduces medication errors or improves adherence in everyday use. Further validation of the scoring and analysis, broader testing, and evaluation in a pharmacy setting would be necessary before drawing stronger conclusions about effectiveness.

John Haller — ThesisDownload thesis (PDF)

The thesis is also available from the OhioLINK ETD Center.