Public Health Messaging: Cartooning / Comics

Tool: MakeBeliefsComix (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com)

Review of Tool: This site offers both an online creation tool to make your own comics as well as a printable section, which features over 350 printable templates. Another great addition is the ability to create comic strips in multiple languages such as Spanish, French, German, and Italian just to name a few.

This tool was easy to navigate. Using the online feature is Free and does not require a log-in. You have a choice of two, three, or four frames to create a unique comic strip. The site provides five basic background colors, talk and thought balloons, background objects, characters with a range of emotions, and the ability to scale items and/or characters to your own preference. After completing the comic strip the site gives you the choice to email it yourself and/or a friend. Making sharing your comic as simple as knowing email addresses. 

Click on the link below to see an example of how a comic strip can be used to promote health behaviors if the comic below is hard to read:




http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=17462625C1015673

Recommended Use for public health messaging: Using comic strips offer public health workers the ability to deliver health messages in a different form, such as humor, while still delivering a powerful health message. Comics offer a broad appeal in that they are colorful, have cartoon-like graphic, and with just 2-4 frames the message is delivered in less than a minute. The design and ease of reading makes comic a great tool to use in public health messaging. The drawback is knowing how to pick out the most important points to get the message across to the public. 

Similar Tools:
Pixton [http://www.pixton.com/]
Read*Write*Think [http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/comic/]