This was an interesting infographic to make. I wanted to put a spotlight on a very niche health condition, that being pectus excavatum, which is a condition where the chest is indented. Usually this condition doesn’t generate serious health issues, but looks quite unpleasant and can embarrass those who have it.
I waned to stick with simple infographics and icons for this one, because I liked how my last one turned out. In addition to that, there are not really any good or high quality photos for this condition. Photos are actually a no-no for this, as they are unpleasant and I’m not comfortable using them. If some one wants to learn and see more of what the condition is, they can go to my primary source, Mayo Clinic. I actually tried to draw a cross-section that resembled the X-Rays. I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but I did my best.
I was disappointed to find few numbers for this, I guess cases aren’t reported that often. But I guess because its a non-life threatening health condition there also wouldn’t be any reasons why that information would be available. But I tried to be creative with the number of births and used the icon babies’ heads for 0’s in the 150 and 1,000. I feel okay about that, but wouldn’t do that again. It’s much harder to illustrate than the three to 1 ratio next to it.
The potential symptoms section is my favorite. I’m especially fond of how the circulatory/respiratory system turned out. The surgery one, hehe, that one is also hard to illustrate.
I did this subject because I have the condition myself and wanted to provide more accessible information to the public on it. I’m surprised there is still not much information on it, most research seems to try to tie it to other genetic defects like Marfans Syndrome. I hope this infographic has a wider audience than just this class, as media coverage is also scant and this condition leads to self-esteem issues for adolescents. I would like to see this taught more in health classes in the future in order to increase public awareness of the condition.
Bloomsburg Infographics 