Kevin Cates, assistant professor of graphic design, has just returned from volunteering in the Republic of Mali, Africa. His assignment through Winrock International was to design pictorial brochures to assist farmers unable to read. He documented his experience on his blog with images that describe both the project and the culture he encountered in Mali.

I think it’s fascinating how much impact designing visuals can make —for the cows in this story, it means life or death. And unhealthy cows do not produce desirable results for the humans.

It basically comes down to healthy cattle feed being too expensive for your average farmer, so they put together feed from whatever they have and try to ration it out too thin. I get tons of pictures on this day, and really document what’s going on.

As a rhetorician, I enjoyed reading about the design process in particular. The choices he makes are not just about “making things pretty.” Elements used have a purpose. The decision to use illustrations or photos is a good example. Not all cows eat the same thing or the same amount. And remember, these farmers can’t read, so graphical realism is paramount.

I never realized how difficult it would be to try and convey a complicated feeding scale in such a simple way. It’s quite a challenge. My training to simplify art and ideas comes in handy, but I still want to make it look high profile, which can’t happen. The cover is the closest I get to “graphic designyness.”

The team engages in a usability test with the targeted audience to see if the brochures are effective, and that feedback informs additional design changes.

His blog isn’t just about the assignment though. He also talks about his daily routine and random excursions; his descriptions of food made me so hungry! While he was there, a travel advisory was issued —Americans were being targeted by terrorists.

Okay. Walking a mile and a half. Off the main thoroughfare. 9:00 p.m. Doesn’t sound like a good idea. I walk like someone is following me the whole time. I’ve never been so paranoid. Terrorism works, kids. It terrorizes.

As Americans, we are sometimes unaware of all the dangers that traveling to foreign soil might bring. Thankfully, the rest of his trip was uneventful in that regard.

“It’s been an inspiring, educational, enlightening, and sometimes scary trip. But completely worth every amount of time I spent doing it.”

If I were one of Kevin’s students, I would greatly appreciate a professor doing work such as this —making a global impact at some risk to his own personal safety. In documenting it, he’s given a gift to them as much as the Malian people.

Experience Kevin’s trip through his daily blog posts. Read more about the project here.