![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/16161ac0-de7f-4e53-8e80-a363830fb992_rw_3840.png?h=196d42219a38ab22a3f2993b02d2c903)
Client
Personal
RoleS
Research, Illustration, Design
Year
April 2020
Description
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, there was a frenzy of uncertainty about the future, an overwhelming amount of information and disinformation, and no clear visuals on how COVID-19 affected the body. I saw an opportunity to contribute to educational efforts and use my background in medical illustration to create an infographic. My main goals were to: 1) use evidence-based research to inform the public on how COVID-19 affects the body so that they take preventative measures, 2) to summarize current COVID-19 pathology and clinical information in a single, digestible infographic in order to engage and educate viewers.
We now know that COVID-19 has incredibly widespread effects throughout the body, and can culminate in chronic illnesses such as long COVID; however, at the time this was published, the main research was about pneumonia caused by COVID-19. This infographic was one of the first published on how COVID-19 affects human lungs. It was initially shared on Twitter, going viral and racking up over 2 million views. It has since been translated into 18 languages and shared around the globe.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/7801d705-3ad5-499b-a9a6-a8fa4682f2dd_rw_3840.jpg?h=647c9b2a935d9e1d51cb61df2512ab84)
Research & Ideation
To get started, I did a literature search on recently published papers about COVID-19. I collected any relevant information about its effects on the human body and cross-referenced research done on previous types of coronaviruses. I collected visual references to determine the most effective way to visualize pathology in the alveoli of the lungs. After gathering references and refining my content outline, I created various thumbnail sketches to explore different layout designs.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/3c97eb3a-8373-44c5-8212-7af33744c958_rw_3840.jpg?h=4f1c911ff81b1eac1a0d4f638a7d5480)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/31215fba-e175-4714-b969-4955635ed445_rw_3840.jpg?h=19f23641efb1395125111072deaeba3d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/5c5d980b-9187-4119-b8e8-9dcbef64ca6e_rw_1920.jpg?h=248cf8b88b6ff51471777d11b9d7f147)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/3d399428-d696-4aa1-ac89-7a127428a8c7_rw_3840.jpg?h=877f37dcb1838c532fd58bdfddf64e3f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/1f5f9a66-ebe4-4298-acbe-45da70ea7558_rw_3840.png?h=c99ad90dc072cdb1fd3c876b272881a4)
Story Flow
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/d83144a0-8db3-4d8a-930f-01d4c3f6f4a5_rw_1920.png?h=168b350e0319be06799756063b03eb12)
Rendering
The final images were illustrated using the iPad app, Procreate. After sharing it online via social media, I received a request from Discover Magazine to publish my piece as a special report in their first COVID-19 edition!
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/3d8f9780-9885-4819-a5ef-76cd049651ff_rw_1920.png?h=6af488adbcc2058f8da528bf54b5d247)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/41650f60-96c6-457a-801b-43c6b83b0f19_rw_1920.png?h=5166040592fd38ce212df4ea4fc08643)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/1e12562a-06fe-4e71-8a5a-69b9ecc80a01_rw_1920.png?h=4b47c1ff825be9b189e5dbba9b02bafa)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/7f694596-e2bf-4ada-b550-493a0f5d95a2_rw_1920.png?h=bfc9329ad0233de7bd9ad717c7b3d73f)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/c15494a8-f829-4c51-8e56-80ec54084bbe_rw_3840.jpg?h=1fd8205d12c78a273478548850ae096d)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/452c0281-51da-4528-a909-3316f12b9087/c8757750-96d3-40ba-9b2c-e2bd32f92c25_rw_1920.jpg?h=abd991f592f440c3b8c7720a2e8a95f1)
Translations
PDFs of all translations can be downloaded here.
Attribution for translation:
French (Français) - Translated by Richard Ying
Spanish (Español) - Translated by Ronan's School and Luis Hume
German (Deutsch) - Translated by Ulrike Eberius
Turkish (Türkçe) - Translated by Dr. Mustafa Özdoğan
Romanian (Română) - Translated by Andrei Cioban
Russian (русский) - Translated by Alexander Golovkov and Dr. Jacob Mirkin
Arabic (عربى) - Translated by Michael Refaat
Albaninan (Shqiptar) - Translated by Aldi Pupuleku and HEDA
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) - Translated by W. Kurniawan
Portuguese (Português, Brasil) - Translated by Émerqui Aguiar and Filippe Vasconcellos
Catalan (Català, Spain) - Translated by Joan-Carles Escolano
Ukrainian (Українська) - Translated by Serhiy Chornoknyzhnyi
Simplified Chinese (简体中文) - Translated by Hu ChuanZhen
Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) - Adapted by Johnny SZE
Italian (lo italiano) - Translated by Simona Caporali and Gilberto Genga
Xhosa (isiXhosa) - Translated by Patience Zantsi
Afrikaans - Translated by Graham Louw
Serbian (Srpski) - Translated by Ivana Prokic