Frontera Group London

Animation using pencil illustrations for pharmaceutical animation

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Client: Frontera Group London
Medium: Pencil, Animation

Project Overview for Animation Using Pencil Drawings

Frontera Group London are a creative digital agency based in the UK and Medical-artist.com were commissioned to create medical illustrations for one of their projects for a pharmaceutical client. The content of the illustrations were to show how an inter-uterine device (IUD) or ‘coil’ for women is inserted into place as a form of contraception.

The medical illustrations specifically needed to be created in pencil due to the fact that the medium was to help bring a certain look and feel to the finished product. The illustrations also needed to be created in a way that they could be incorporated into an animation and video to be used by health care professionals in the work place. The video was going to be used by healthcare professionals to demonstrate to patients the benefits of the coil and insertion techniques when used as a form of contraception. A video and the use of pencil illustrations was deemed the most effective form of communication due to the fact that pencil has a soft and gentle aspect to it which would come across on the video and  help educate patients about the specific insertion procedure.

Images and information reproduced courtesy of Frontera Group London, ©Levosert Levonorgestrel

Using Pencil Drawings within Medical Animation and Video

The team were requested to complete the project because it required graphite pencil illustrations to be used within the animation where most animations typically use digital illustrations.The client required a medium to reflect a softer look and ‘feel’ to the illustrations so the pencil medium was chosen for this project. Graphite pencil was the preferred choice  to depict the properties of the IUD and the insertion procedure along with the female anatomy so that it would seem more appealing to those patients watching the animation.

Unlike many medical art agencies that only use digital mediums, Medical-artist.com are highly experienced in using many different forms of illustration mediums. To do these illustrations we used graphite pencils and onto a high quality Bristol Board paper as it has a very smooth surface ideal for detailed work. The drawings were scanned at a high resolution and saved as a TIF or JPEG file. Every element of the drawings were scanned so that there was series of individual drawings ready to be transferred into a digital format for animation. This was done by saving each scanned drawing as a Photoshop file and cutting out the white background so each individual drawing was a stand alone image. These elements would now be ready for animating.

Adhering to Brand Guidelines

The artwork needed to comply with the client’s brand guidelines, such as the specific branding colours, the pencil style, the IUD interpretation as well as it having absolute anatomical accuracy. In addition, the illustrations needed to conform to the specific style and look of the brand to make sure they would seamlessly fit with the client’s existing branded artwork.

Each individual illustration needed to be drawn with high precision and clinical accuracy to ensure it represented the exact medical interpretation of the device and insertion procedure. The IUD device was couriered to the Medical-artist.com studio so that Joanna could refer the real deice to create a precise, to-scale drawing of the device. The proportions of the IUD are unique to the specific brand of the product so it was critical that the dimensions and proportions were an exact replica.

Client feedback

Frontera Group London said they were delighted with the illustrations and said, “The illustrations were loved by everyone and most especially be the client“.

“Joanna has a great eye for detail and the illustrations were loved by everyone, most especially by the client.”Stuart Banks, Digital Project Manager, Frontera
“Joanna was right at home working with us to develop illustrations that both met our clinical needs and fit perfectly into the aesthetics of our user interface. Her work is superb!”Michael Gold , Director of Product Development, CareCloud
“We have now received the new folder with your illustrations: I love it!”Lisa Ruckstuhl - Product Manager Osteoporosis, Daiichi Sankyo (Schweiz) AG
“I’m really pleased with how the book finally looks and that is in part huge thanks to Jo for such fantastic and skilled art. The level of detail that Jo achieves is incredible and her medical knowledge clearly abounds. She is always such a pleasure to work with – nothing is too big or small a job. It was all approached with the same cheery manner! Jo always delivered on deadlines too, which is a huge relief to us designers! Many thanks – it has indeed been a pleasure. I would have no hesitation to recommend Jo!”Senior Designer, Duncan Baird Publishers
“Joanna and her team are a pleasure to work with. They are responsive and creative. They turned around several excellent animations and drawings for our video series. We certainly would enjoy working with them again!”David Mathison, MD, MBA, Associate Director of Pediatric Transport, Children's National Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics & Emergency Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine
“Joanna has provided the core illustrations for a number of our iPad Apps, and her illustrations have received terrific reviews from our users. She understands our requirements clearly and also understands the specifics of illustrating for digital media and mobile applications. The quality of her work is outstanding, and she can be relied upon to hit deadlines and deliver to the exact clinical requirements of each project.”Todd Morgan, Co-Founder, drawMD
“Hello Tim and Joanna,
Thank you for the illustrations, you have done an outstanding job on the finished articles… The service provided was efficient and very thorough, we were very happy with the way you able to understand and translate the brief into an illustration which captured the desired output.”Clare Lynex, Senior Medical Writer, UBM Media Asia, Singapore
“We found medical-artist.com to be energetic, imaginative, and efficient, a joy to work with!”Dr Sam Alberti, Director of Museums and Archives, Royal College of Surgeons of England, London