This project was done for MSC2001: Visual Representation of Medical Knowledge. My classmate, Jennifer Gu, and I observed surgical procedures, including a thyroidectomy, at Toronto General Hospital with Dr. Jesse Pasternak and Dr. Amin Madani. We took notes and made loose sketches in the operating room, supplementing this material with video footage, research papers, surgical textbooks, and anatomy references. I did an anatomy study to become more familiar with the structures in the neck region.

Jennifer and I wrote out the steps of the sequence together. Initially, we each created a full set of illustrations to demonstrate the entire sequence. Partway through, we divided the sequence between us: I did the first half of the procedure, and Jennifer took the second. While the illustrations were done individually, we consulted with one another along the way.

Meeting with our professor on a weekly basis, we went through nine iterations of the illustrations before producing the final draft.

Maquettes of the tools were sculpted in Cinema 4D. Linework was done in both Illustrator and Clip Studio Paint. The layout was done in Indesign.

Objective: to create a clear narrative that accurately describes the temporal, anatomical, and procedural aspects of a surgery that could be used as part of instruction

Audience: surgeons

Format: 8.5x11” page suitable for print in a surgical atlas (refined sketches + one page fully rendered in greyscale)

Client: Prof. Michael Corrin

Medium: Cinema 4D, Clip Studio Paint, Illustrator, Indesign

Year: 2020