MEDICS.ACADEMY / 2021
Illustration System for Medical Education.
A modular visual language created for Medics.Academy, a London-based medical education startup. The system gave the brand original, memorable imagery while reducing future design debt from random stock illustration.
Client
Medics.Academy
Category
Illustration system
Industry
Medical education
Team
Matt Gidaszewski,
Elle Lever, Charlie Dixon, Tiziana Ruiu
Brief
Create an illustration system that caters for multiple Medics.Academy products.
The work needed to improve efficiency and cost saving when producing visuals, create original imagery that exemplifies the brand, and prevent the accumulation of design debt going forward.
Efficiency
Improved efficiency and cost saving when producing visuals.
Memorability
Original imagery that exemplifies the brand and makes it more memorable.
Continuity
Prevents design debt from accumulating through random stock illustrations.
Style Development
From brand values to a flexible illustration language.
Brand review
We began with a review of Medics.Academy’s mission and values, which revealed a set of keywords that were used to translate the company’s values into visual attributes.
First sketches
These were inspired directly by the keywords established in step 1: clean efficient lines, confident and bold colours and shapes, clinical but friendly and approachable.
Initial designs in Adobe Illustrator
A review of the sketches in vector format showed that our characters were lacking in personality and practicality. They needed facial features for greater emotional communication and usable hands to perform healthcare tasks.
Further developments
After several iterations, which included style and animation testing, our character developed hands and feet, hair and facial features. We also jointed the character to allow for flexible and realistic movement using traditional character rigging.
User testing
User testing with health professionals revealed a preference for realistic human body proportions. These were seen as healthier and more medically accurate than characters with highly exaggerated features.
Prototype
Acting on feedback from users, our basic prototype character was designed with realistic human proportions and used to create a full and diverse library of characters with different ages, races, genders, ethnicities and abilities.
Illustration Breakdown
A simple system of rules made the illustration library consistent.
The system balanced geometric scenery, realistic proportions, flattened objects, mixed perspectives, subtle texture, and a medical focal point in each scene.
Proportions
A character’s size is realistically proportional to other objects within the scene.
Perspective
Objects should be flattened, but perspectives can be mixed.
Scenery
Scenery objects are made from simple geometric shapes.
Texture
Textures and shading are used minimally to add definition and visual interest.
Medical objects
A medical or healthcare element must be present in the scene and ideally a focal point.
Hey!
I am a multipurpose, inclusive and fully editable modular character and I’m part of the Medics.Academy illustration system.
Inclusivity
For inclusivity, characters can be fitted out with a multitude of skin and hair colours, hair styles, facial features, props and accessories. These can be combined to represent any age, race, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, personality and ability.
Proportions
The proportions are realistic while being nice and simple to make easier to animate. Research with medical professionals showed a preference for realistic human proportions.
Versatility
Characters can represent any healthcare role, from scrub suits, tunics and work clogs, to more casual clothes.
Outcome
A scalable illustration system for a growing medical education platform.
Original brand imagery
A distinct illustration style gave Medics.Academy visuals that felt ownable, memorable, and consistent.
Reusable library
Characters, props, scenes, and modular components could be recombined across multiple products.
Less design debt
The system reduced reliance on disconnected stock illustration and made future production more efficient.
MEDICS.ACADEMY
Illustration System / 2021