Project

Cancer Treatment Resistance Infographic

Client

Drug Discovery News

Year

2022

PROJECT Summary

This infographic was a full-page print in the magazine Drug Discovery News.

The goal of the infographic was to educate the reader on the multiple ways that cancer can become resistant to various treatments, and how emerging therapies are combating this resistance.

Research

As a former cancer researcher who studied drug resistance in cancer, this was a topic I was very familiar with. The content for this infographic was researched and written by a scientific writer who I collaborated with to determine how best to layout the information they had collected to tell a compelling story.

I also came up with the title of the infographic, The Cold Shoulder of Cancer: Understanding Resistance to Treatment.

Design Process

The target audience for Drug Discovery News magazine are scientists in the life science field. Scientific materials are often devoid of emotion or include uninspired imagery. Given how devastating treatment-resistant cancer is, I wanted to evoke that sense of turmoil and pain with impactful imagery of a patient under duress alongside the different treatment types for cancer. Erratic linework is used throughout the piece to mimic the disorder and discomfort that are associated with trying to combat cancer that is resistant to treatment.

The typefaces used throughout include a strong, condensed sans-serif for the title and subheadings, a rough, sharp script for the treatment headings, and a serif reminiscent of typical academic texts with optimal readability for body copy.

Final Deliverable

The final design is a striking and emotional piece that effectively showcases the various ways cancer can be treated, how each of those treatment types can fail through mechanisms of resistance, and the turmoil associated with the battle to overcome treatment resistance.

A readable PDF can be found on the DDN website, here.

Infographic with a dark teal background. The central image is a female body, facing away from the camera, with their hands on their head. Surrounding the body are images of cancer treatments, including an IV bag, vial, radiation symbol, syringe, and pill packet.