Lifecycle diagram of neonatal meningitis E. coli in human brain tissue. Original view.
Lifecycle diagram of neonatal meningitis E. coli in human brain tissue. Grayscale view.
Lifecycle diagram of neonatal meningitis E. coli in human brain tissue. Protanopia color blindness view.
Lifecycle diagram of eneroinvasive E. coli in the human gut. Original view.
Lifecycle diagram of eneroinvasive E. coli in the human gut. Grayscale view.
Lifecycle diagram of eneroinvasive E. coli in the human gut. Protanopia color blindness view.
Lifecycle diagram of uropathogenic E. coli in the human bladder. Original view.
Lifecycle diagram of uropathogenic E. coli in the human bladder. Grayscale view.
Lifecycle diagram of uropathogenic E. coli in the human bladder. Protanopia color blindness view.
Here are three diagrams depicting interactions between pathogenic bacteria and human tissues that I recently illustrated for a book. In designing these images I wanted to capture the information the authors wanted to convey but in an easily navigated way.
Theme: By making sure the diagrams visually echo each other, readers become familiar with the graphical elements and their locations upon viewing the initial diagram. This then allows for quicker and easier navigation of subsequent diagrams.
Layout: Each diagram progresses predictably from left to right. Key points noted in the text are also noted by large and easily distinguished numbers. This helps readers quickly identify temporal and spatial relationships between the events being discussed.
Color choice: Aside from aesthetics, the color palette used in scientific diagrams dictates how they can be visualized and who can visualize them. Often times to save money, books are published in grayscale or black and white. Therefore, I made sure that my color choices provided enough contrast so that if converted to grayscale, the elements would still be distinguishable (center diagrams). Additionally, because some viewers will likely be colorblind, I made sure that the theme and layout would be maintained if viewed in the color spectrum seen by people with red-green color blindness (right diagrams).
