Nigel Sussman
Nigel uses wit, whimsy, and humor to depict the various roles of organelles that create balance within a cell. Working with the editors, I spent countless hours ensuring they were accurate. In this seek-and-find illustration, you see something new every time you look at it. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
Valerie Altounian, senior scientific illustrator
At Science, our illustrations often bridge the gap between technical and conceptual. Val rendered the fish beautifully and accurately, while gently weaving in some of the sensory threats they face. —Chrystal Smith, senior designer
Andy Potts
Andy captured the evolution of Jason with an homage to the ominous war room from the movie Dr. Strangelove. We see the transition of Jason projects, as well as a progression in the makeup of its members. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
Eiko Ojala
Eiko nailed the execution of our simple concept, using his paper art style of texture, shadow, and color to bring dimension and life to the illustration. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor.
Valerie Altounian, senior scientific illustrator
Although Val could have made a successful cover image using the researchers’ data to model the densely packed nerve cells in a mouse brain, she had bigger ideas. Val wanted to evoke the beautiful imagery of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a late 19th century neuroscientist with a knack for drawing neurons. But with today’s technology, we are able to see far more neurons than could be depicted in his pen and ink style. I suggested combining the two approaches, showing the transition from a sparse 2D drawing to a dense 3D rendering. The authors of the paper raved about how Val fully captured the scientific essence of the related manuscript and said this illustration went a very long way in depicting an important, centurylong scientific journey in the neurosciences. —Beth Rakouskas, creative director
STEPHAN SCHMITZ/FOLIO ART
To visualize prediabetes I suggested the iconic finger prick. Stephan deftly used it as a symbol to carry the reader through this series of clever and beautiful illustrations. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
STEPHAN SCHMITZ/FOLIO ART
Trust is one of the most important factors in a relationship between an art director and an illustrator. Knowing that illustrating a topic as sensitive as suicide was not going to be easy, I turned to Stephan, a longtime collaborator. Together we explored ways to visualize science’s role in helping people emerge from such a dark journey, while avoiding overused icons and potentially triggering imagery to represent methods of suicide. —Chrystal Smith, senior designer
Jason Solo
Science is no stranger to conceptual illustrations about artificial intelligence mastering games. The challenge is coming up with a new solution—for us and our readers. When I saw Jason’s digital and futuristic style, I knew he would be perfect for illustrating this breakthrough. The scene appears to be both physical and digital—existing in the real world for the human poker players and in the digital world for the poker master computer program, Pluribus. —Chrystal Smith, senior designer
Leonard Dupond
Leonard set out to illustrate reader-written advertisements for imagined foods of the future. From food customized to your DNA preferences, to patties made from insects, Leonard depicted these concepts with creativity and a bit of old Hollywood glamour. —Christina Aycock, designer
Anita Kunz
We needed to capture #MeTooSTEM founder BethAnn McLaughlin’s likeness, edgy personality, and social media presence, while being respectful and not flippant. Anita Kunz is known for her witty portraitures that use strong visual metaphors to tackle heavy subject matters. One look at her “BethAnn as Rosie the Riveter” sketch and I was sold! —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
Ray Oranges
What do you do when your subject decides to run for office, and showing a photo of them on your cover could be perceived as supporting their campaign? Cue the conceptual illustration! Ray’s geometric style worked perfectly with our twin-in-space study. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
Robert Neubecker
It takes a special mind to come up with a new visual approach each week for our Working Life column on career challenges. Robert is consistently clever, often taking very personal and sensitive topics and illustrating them tactfully. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
Christina Chung
Our fall reading list showcases great books you can cozy up with as the seasons change. With a delicate sketchlike overlay, Christina incorporated many key themes from the books while evoking the mood of fall. —Christina Aycock, designer
Julius Csotonyi
Julius and I endeavored to surprise and delight readers with our interpretation of how this giant synapsid might have looked walking through Late Triassic–era Poland. The authors of the paper were thrilled that Julius captured not only the erect gait of this giant protomammal—walking like an elephant rather than a crocodile—but also included some contemporary mammals and dinosaurs for scale. —Beth Rakouskas, creative director
Mark Garlick
With the expert counsel of physicist Dimitrios Psaltis, a member of the Event Horizon Telescope team, Mark was able to imagine how the M87 black hole would look from a nearby world, creating a view that is both visually stunning and grounded in science. —Alberto Cuadra, graphics managing editor
DAVIDE BONAZZI/SALZMANART
To depict Brexit, a topic covered exhaustively in the news, the choice to go conceptual was an easy one. Choosing Davide, a trusted illustrator, was an even easier decision. His illustration gets straight to the point—Brexit will isolate some scientists. —Marcy Atarod, design managing editor
DAVIDE BONAZZI/SALZMANART
Davide is a master of conceptualizing difficult science policy topics. Combining the iconographic symbol of the U.S. Capitol with the hand of a puppeteer to show political interference is what makes this illustration so successful. His addition of one scientist breaking away gives the image a hopeful slant. —Chrystal Smith, senior designer
