Cancer-Associated Thrombosis

Project Type: Academic Journal Figure Design, Scientific Illustration

Media: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

Final Presentation Format: Print and web for journal publication

Primary Audience: Scientific professionals

This project was designed for use in an original publication that will target scientific professionals. The illustration intends to visually explain the formation of pro-thrombotic vesicles which can cause blood clot formation (thrombosis), which is a life-threatening complication for many pancreatic cancer patients. The primary objective of this project was to give context to the cellular anatomy, receptors, and processes involved in tissue factor formation and trafficking out of the cell. This illustration focuses on two distinct pathways a cell may take to transport tissue factor out into extracellular fluid.

Because the target audience of this illustration is the professional scientific community, some elements such as membrane sidedness and some labels were excluded. Scientific professionals reading the article this illustration is associated are likely aiming to learn as much as possible in a short amount of time so reducing cognitive load by excluding extraneous detail is important. A 2D style was chosen to reduce the distraction of detail that a fully rendered style would present.