Heine Osteotome Illustration
Audience: General Public
Medium: Illustrator, InDesign
Purpose: To convey the fascinating form and history of this frightening step in the evolution of surgery.
Step 1: Reference
I began by searching for reference images, of course (none of which I can show here for copyright reasons). As it happens, the most complete and high-resolution images I was able to find were from an auction house specializing in antique medical implements.
Step 2: Ideation
It occurred to me that the history of this strange bit of kit might best be presented on a placard, the type of which one might find in a museum. I got to work sketching the tool and writing the copy for the placard.
Step 3: Render
I took my sketches to Illustrator for the tool itself,
then laid that out with the copy in InDesign
