Bringing meaningful research to life
The brief in brief
I was approached by Nicola O'Donnell, a PhD researcher at the University of York, to find a creative way to present her qualitative study about experiences after childhood cancer alongside a standard research paper. Nicola needed a way to bring powerful quotes from her young research participants to life to enhance their impact and make them more accessible to those who had been involved.
The process
Nicola shared some background context and reference images of Rb (retinoblastoma) survivors to support the illustrations alongside the quotes and research she wanted to include.
We worked collaboratively developing a style and approach that would sensitively and effectively communicate her research.
I developed a character based approach, illustrating the speaker of each quote (an imagined version of them to retain their anonymity) in the context of their quote. I framed each image so Nicola could print the images in sequence, like a short book, or break them out into posters to share individually. The characters break out of their frames to highlight how the research was breaking current thinking about Rb and how this approach broke beyond the bounds of a standard research report.
We included a range of characters across gender, ethnicity and presentation of Rb. It was important that the images were accessible to those with low vision, so I focused on dark line work with only a light wash to maintain contrast and text when exported as a pdf that could easily be read by a screen reader.
The final product
The final 25 images are something I’m very proud of and that have brought something new to Nicola’s research. I’m keen to bring this approach into my own practice and to hopefully illustrate more research in the future.
“They look great; I hope you don’t mind but I asked for the opinion of an Rb survivor I am working with, and her feedback was also positive. We both liked how sensitively you have drawn the prosthetic eye in some images.”
— Nicola O’Donnell