2020 SayoStudio Science Art Year in Review
2020 was a blur. Which I suppose I’m grateful for? Or at least, I should be? As I write this I remind myself that for many, surviving this pandemic has been a painful, day-to-day struggle. Not only have I been able to continue working, I get to work with others who share the gift of inspiration and hope—from scientists at Kezar Biosciences studying innovative cancer treatments, to ecologists like Dr. Shawn Leroux, to other awesome science communicators at magazines and research centers across the world. Creating science art for these leading scientists has, frankly, allowed me an escape.
Please enjoy this visual tour of science art from 2020. I’m looking forward to writing more about many of these—so stay tuned!
Illustrations for Scientists in 2020
I was able to work with such a wide variety of researchers this year!
- With K. Ramachander in Dr. Rohit’s lab, we created an animation of an innovative way to use trees to make an economical water filter! K. Ramchander is publishing soon, so for now it’s just a screenshot in the gallery, but I’m so excited to feature the animation when it’s released.
- For Dr. Leroux’s paper on moose ecology in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, I created an overview ecology landscape illustration and a simplified infographic figure.
- I created journal cover art for Dr. K. Schultz’s Research on Drug Delivery via Hydrogel, published on the inside cover of Soft Materials. Congratulations to Schultz et. al.—it made Soft Matter’s Most Popular List for 2020!
- For Dr. M. Bank, an epic ecology landscape illustration of Norway’s complex food web. We have another epic ocean science illustration in the works, soon to be released.
Illustrations for Biotech in 2020
This past year, I had the opportunity to work with both loyal returning biotech scientists, and was introduced to new researchers. Some of the work is still under wraps, but I’m happy to share this art from long-time client Kezar Biosciences, and new client 10x Genomics created through the art direction of Traina Design. I’ll be following up with a case study of the Kezar work soon!
Illustrations for Research Centers
For many years I’ve worked with the National Science Foundation. It’s where I had my first ‘real job’, and I’ve been fortunate to continue working with them in the years since (see NSF history of science mural, NSF first stars animation, and Black Hole Nobel Physics). Sadly, my contract came to an end this year, but I’m so happy that I was able to finish this series on the NSF Big Ideas before my end date. I’m working on another post that goes into each of these illustrations in-depth that will be released soon.
Illustrations for Magazines
Time and time again, I’m so grateful for the phenomenal working relationships I’ve enjoyed with art and design directors from so many leading science magazines. This past year I was able to work on:
- Starlink Satellite’s Floating Above Earth cover art, for Science News Magazine
- DNA Packing feature art and infographic for Knowable magazine
- Morphogenesis in C. elegans infographic for The Scientist Magazine
- X Escape science illustration for The Scientist Magazine
- Voyager I and II’s Solar System Escape infographic for Sky & Telescope Magazine
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