When self-help isn’t the way

The attempt by the Rawalpindi police to educate children about traffic rules and regulations is a welcome step and deserves commendation. Traffic safety is essential and needs to be hammered into young minds to avert tragedies.

However, it makes no sense to add the photos of police officers, no less on the front page of the booklet. The information and images do not help the nursery students and seems to have been added for the gratification of the officers in question: Usman Kakar, Farhan Baig and Taimoor Khan.

The aesthetics are further compromised by the background image and drawing, which are not localised and key elements covered by the department’s excessive branding.

Read Traffic police drive targets nursery students

The rest of the drawings have also been taken from the internet, including those with copyright and reproduced without attribution. For instance, the zebra crossing image was made by a school teacher from Queens, New York.

The department says the booklet was developed on a self-help basis. Maybe that is not the best of ideas going forward and the department should consider professionals when developing the booklet for students of older age groups.

Even when targeting younger students, aesthetics and typography are important.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2023.