Category: Information Design

Asbestos, Absent is a series of infographics that tell a story about how mesothelioma, a cancer commonly associated with asbestos exposure, has impacted the lives of Australians. The series was presented digitally on The Cube, designed specifically to resonate with the target demographic, which predominantly comprised of QUT staff and students.

The project was designed to be read sequentially, with the first design encompassing a map-style infographic. This map details the total number of recorded mesothelioma diagnoses in the two decades from 1980-2000, and translates this figure using an average adult height. When layed across a map, the total distance of these human bodies stretched the distance from the QUT Kelvin Grove campus to Gardens Point campus, and back. A bleak image to picture, but an important message that hopes to raise further awareness of this horrible disease.

The second infographic employs a unique twist on the traditional bar graph and contrasts the 2011 figures of those who were exposed to asbestos in both workplace and non-workplace settings. The main message of this design draws attention to ongoing exposure risks faced in the construction industry as well as highlighting a little-known fact – that spouses of workers were exposed to asbestos simply because they washed their clothing in the same machine.

The final infographic in this series is a set of timelines, contrasting three individuals who were diagnosed with mesothelioma. These timelines were developed from qualitative data, such as news articles and interviews. These reports were examined, where I sought out patterns and commonalities in their stories. The resulting design gives a glimpse into the lives of these three individuals, emphasising the extreme variety in latency between exposure to asbestos fibres and eventually experiencing symptoms of mesothelioma. My hope with this design was to emphasise how important awareness is of the danger asbestos poses.

This project was developed through a combination of data processing in Microsoft Excel, while design was completed in Adobe Illustrator. I hope the outcomes resonate with you and that you find the story told through the work to be both informative and meaningful.