The purpose of the work was to create a magazine spread to educate the scientific audience about the mechanism and progression of multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (M.S.) is a chronic condition involving the central nervous system affecting two to three times more women than men. M.S. is also more prevalent in temperate climates such as Canada, northern USA, southeastern Australia, and Europe. While the exact cause is unknown, M.S. is considered an autoimmune disease as the immune system attacks the myelin in the brain and spinal cord.

Initial sketch.

The spread is intended to be read from left to right, from macroscopic scale (head) to microscopic (axons) and back to the macrosopic scale (brain).

Clean line draft.

The head was turned toward the center and the brain cubes were replaced with a slice of the brain.

Color draft.

Using a color palette generated from painting and pictures, I experimented with different backgrounds and colors.

Greyscale render.

Shaded in photoshop.

Color render.

Rendered in photoshop with hue saturation adjustment layers.

Background render.

For the background, axons were superimposed in photoshop on top of a gradient. The background was blurred to create an underwater effect.

Details.

Light rays, specular highlights and floating particles are added to the background.

Text placement.

Typeface, color and label choices were made.