Doc Tutorials Edition 6
Deliverables:
- Cover Design
- Illustrations
DocTutorials is an edutech platform based in Hyderabad that creates notes and lecture series for medical students preparing for MBBS, NEET-PG and NEET-SS
In 2026, we designed the sixth edition of their medical guidebook, focusing on the covers. Inspired by surrealist paintings, each cover approaches the often macabre nature of medicine with a degree of humor and softness, while retaining its seriousness. This project was a process in interpreting specialized scientific subjects through visual metaphors that communicate both information and emotion.
The illustrations remain interpretative, allowing each book to feel like an entry point into its subject, something the reader begins to experience even before opening it.
For the book on medicine, a medicine box is reimagined as a bento box. For pharmacology, we arrived at the metaphor of a submarine moving through a stream of blood cells, after working through more literal ideas. Across subjects, we used whimsy as a way to engage both visually and intellectually.
Developing a recurring visual language across disciplines proved challenging, given the varied nature of each subject
The process involved looking for moments of poetry within them-some direct, others less obvious-and translating these into form. The book on anesthesia, for instance, represents ascending states of consciousness through a set of Matryoshka dolls with Indian features.
The illustration style itself was a negotiation between surrealist imagery-sharper details without outlines- and more direct symbolism.
This allowed us to explore color blocking and shading in a way that clearly separates foreground, background, and object. The result is a series of collectible covers that hold the complexity of medical education while inviting the reader into science through curiosity.
Applied Semiotic Tools
2023