Inside the Conclave

This freelance project, for the Catholic News Service, allowed me to dive deep and explore a process that few know about: electing a new Pope. This infographic combined original research, heavy illustration, and rendering, as well as data visualization to make a two-page spread that was published in Catholic newspapers across the world. A spanish version was also created.

The concept came to me during my sketching sessions—to get inside the walls of the Sistine Chapel and show the process. There are so many nuances and details to the ceremony, and I tried to capture them all from the renaissance-period artwork behind the alter to the color and style of the curtains to the garb of the cardinals.

Early on, I decided that I wanted to document the project, capturing a screenshot every two seconds throughout the entire project. This video shows my research and illustration processes.