Outwitting Cancer

Outwitting Cancer was an exhibition held at the Crick Institute in London in 2022. It was the first exhibition in the UK focussing on cancer research and was split into three zones – a video installation, an ‘Encounters’ area formed of movable exhibition stands and a reflective area where visitors can share their own experience of cancer.

We worked with exhibition designers Studio Prelude to establish the graphic style across the exhibition and was responsible for producing the direct to media quotes, information panels and design details featured across the Encounters area.

The exhibition’s visual langauge was informed by multiple themes. Layering and change were key devices, inspired by the unpredictability of growth.

Life-size human silhouettes transform into each other, complimented by abstract forms; fonts alternative to highlight information; colours changed subtly over time to denote cancer treatment stages as well as contributing towards a rich and positive exhibition experience. In the lab, cancer researchers often label samples with coloured tape, annotated by hand. This was used as a graphic device across the exhibition, where information was highlighted with tape-like strips. Further hand-drawn annotations were overlaid to pick out or link additional information and this was carried through to diagrams and charts, used to support the body text.

Quotes from researchers, and patients were used extensively throughout the exhibition. A patient advisory panel, Crick scientists and leadership and the exhibition curator were all stakeholders on the project and each fed into the graphic style to ensure it was engaging, communicative and appropriate for the information displayed.