Details of contributors
Hannah Palmer, creator
Location of contributors: London, UK
This project is aimed at anyone studying English and Welsh law; from A levels to undergraduate level. The challenge was to create a law resource for students incorporating a visual element to help understanding and retention of legal case law and theory.
What was the issue with previous alternatives?
There are many online and printed resources for law students but the vast majority of them are entirely text based and, more often than not, entirely black and white with no use of colour or visual imagery thereby excluding a whole area of visual learning.
What was the design process and/or tools that you used?
The project was initially envisaged as a printed book but creating an online resource gives much for flexibility and freedom. Space in a book for illustrations would have been constrained, a website allows for much larger images and more of them.
All of the illustrations are created using an app called Sketches. These are then uploaded onto a website designed using Word Press. All of the text that accompanies the illustrations was written by the creator but has been checked by people teaching at university level.
Did you face any particular challenges?
It’s not always possible to design illustrations that encapsulate every element of a case or legal rule so it can be challenging to decide what information is most important and how to present that in the most succinct and memorable way. The easiest to draw or most memorable aspect of a case is not necessarily the most useful for the student.
Describe your end product
A website that covers Contract and Tort Law. Each section includes illustrations of the main case law and legal theory with accompanying text that describes what happened in the case and how the legal rule applies. There are also Digital Flashcard sections – these contain just the illustrations, once with the case name and legal rule and then without either so that students can test themselves. It’s also possible to buy printed flashcards for revision; one side is the illustration, the other the text. Oh, and fun mugs with silly law illustrations on!
What has been the impact of your innovation on the justice challenge? Have you had feedback from your end users?
The number of people using the website is going up and feedback that I have had from users is positive. They like the addition of a visual element to help them understand and memorise case law and legal theory. It was designed as a resource to be used alongside printed and other digital resources, as an additional, more colourful, tool for students.
Do you have any future plans for this project?
I’m aiming to add other legal topics such as Criminal Law and Equity & Trusts Law.