I went to the university library today to take out some books on information graphics. Unfortunately they only had one book remaining on the subject, which I immediately took out and started reading. This book shows fewer drawing based info-graphics than others might have, but it still gives me a great insight into the general area.

Below are some amazing Infographics by Fritz Kahn. He was a German doctor, educator, popular science writer, and information graphics pioneer, who's work I greatly admire:

Here is an example of a current hospital patient information booklet for cardiac surgery. It contains very few illustrations to help the patient understand visually what will happen to them:

"Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly."

For my project, I have decided to do some sort of visual information booklet or leaflet for people in hospital which will explain to them what is happening to their body/how a certain procedure will work.

For example, for a person with heart disease, the booklet will explain:

- How the healthy heart pumps blood around the body

- How their heart is working differently to other peoples

- What treatments can be used to fix it

The idea of using illustrations instead of writing could be particularly helpful for those who struggle with reading, those who do not speak English as their first language, or those who are simply more 'visual' people.

At the moment, I picture the booklet being a bit like an safety leaflet on an aeroplane, where images get the message across quickly and concisely without the need for long paragraphs of writing.

Here are some of the more successful colour combinations. In these images, I think the colours compliment the drawing without taking away any of the detail:

After my visits to the museums, I decided to start experimenting with colour on my heart drawing. Some were more successful than others! Here are some of the less successful ones where I don't think the colours worked with the image:

I went to the V&A today, unsure as to how it might help me with a medical-based project. As it happens, I found it very useful to look at the sculpture gallery and was given an idea of scale and a more detailed view of the human form.