AZURAVESTA
DESIGN
Scientific Storytelling
Let's face the facts: science is amazing, but it can also be challenging. Simplifying complex information into clear visuals gives us a new perspective and allows us to overcome this education barrier.
Pathological Illustration
Produce a medical illustration demonstrating pathological change in a tissue over time, to explain a particular disease process to an educated lay audience
Media: Procreate, Photoshop, Illustrator
Format: Editorial print for magazine
Client: Prof. Shelley Wall
​
This piece illustrates the pathogenesis of acute cellular rejection of a kidney transplant. Organ rejection is highly common and happens when the recipient’s immune system recognizes the organ as foreign. It occurs due to differences in HLA alleles, which encode surface proteins on the organ's cells. This mismatch triggers the host's immune system to recruit myriad immune cells, which attack the organ. This piece is meant to educate a general audience who is interested in learning more about organ rejection.
Medical Legal Illustration
Use co-design, knowledge scaffolding, and demonstrative evidence to create medical legal visualizations for a medical malpractice case
Media: Procreate, Photoshop, Illustrator
Format: Panel in the courtroom
Client: Prof. Leila Lax
​
This medical legal visualization was created in support of the defendant for the case of Dr. Otis vs. Davis. The plaintiff was born with a complex congenital heart condition known as Transposition of the Great Arteries. In order to correct the defect, an Arterial Switch Repair surgery was performed successfully; however, 12 days after surgery it was noted that the plaintiff was no longer moving his legs. Investigations and MRI revealed a spinal infarction, rendering him paraplegic. The plaintiff claims that the surgery caused the paraplegia, whereas the defendant claims that a clot formation on the umbilical catheter dislodged and likely caused the spinal infarction, leading to paraplegia.
​
In support of the defendant, three panels were proposed to allow knowledge scaffolding for the following: 1) Normal infant heart and blood vessel anatomy to give the necessary background information to understand the surgery and spinal infarction. 2) Reveal the anatomy of the surgery (before & after) and the emergency of the situation (closing of the foramen). 3) Location of the UAC and different pathways of blood flow, revealing potential clot pathways.
​
Prior to designing the panels, the work was divided amongst our co-design team, which included Shirley Long and Nitai Steinberg. Additionally, we developed a style guide to maintain visual consistency.
