Creative illustration of computer ergonomics

TypingMaster

We are the developer and vendor of touch typing software for education, business and home users.

Your task is to research the subject of good computer ergonomics and draw four (4) illustrations for an online educational resource.

One picture will be an example of good posture at a computer and the three others examples of bad posture and workstation setup. All pictures must feature the main character and stylized computer monitor, keyboard, desk and chair using correct proportions. Main focus needs to be on the character sitting at the computer. The example profiles are provided at the end.

Illustration can be hand drawn or vector graphic, either one goes provided that they are professionally executed. All four pictures will be used at about a size of 460x460px. However, they pictures or parts of them, may be used at just a fourth of that size 115x115px. For this reason, they will need to be fairly simple.

Although the illustrations will be used as an educational resource, we do not want them to be boring. Our angle to the subject matter is "how to feel comfortable at your computer" rather than dictate "research on ergonomics tells that this is how you need to do this". Having fun when learning is important to us. Cartoon-style can be used, possibly even stick character if fit for purpose, clean and simple yet creative and possibly even fun ;).

Our target audience is elementary school students (4-6 graders). However, the illustrations should also suitable for older audiences, so not too childish. Our audience is varied so the character used should be fairly gender, race and age neutral. In the examples of bad posture, the problem areas can be accentuated by exaggerating dimensions slightly.

Profiles

These profiles are basic descriptions of the four postures that we need illustrated. Use them as a starting point and try them out yourself. Be creative and think of what could be problem areas in terms of ergonomics in the bad postures and use your own ideas to make illustrations that users can relate to. When drawing the bad postures, use your knowledge of good computer ergonomics to possibly accentuate what is wrong in the picture.

Profile 1: It's all good!
Chair, desk, keyboard and monitor are all set correctly and character looks comfortable and relaxed. For creating this picture, look for examples of good computer ergonomics from the web - there are many and varied :)

Profile 2: The Slouch
The character is too relaxed for their own good. He leans back on the chair, legs are extended straight or crossed, he is positioned too far from the desk, arms are straight, elbows and wrists rest heavily on the table. Head is tilted back a bit as monitor is too high in this position.

Profile 3: The Tiny
This character is too small for their workstation. Desk is too high, chair is too high, monitor is set too high so they need to gaze up and it is also too far away and they need to lean forward to see.

Profile 4: The Hunchback
This character is too big for the workstation. His legs are crammed under the table with knees touching it. Monitor is too low and his head is tilted down causing strain to neck, he is maybe leaning over the keyboard a bit, shoulders are tense and wrists are held high. You could also think of this posture as a variation of sitting at a laptop...

Please deliver in high resolution layered PSD format so that we add annotation and focus points to them.

Feel free to offer an additional picture to us if you come up with a new profile! We will compensate extra for such effort in relation to the total compensation of four pictures.

We may commission retouches or additional pictures from you later on based on the same style and character.