Journals
Are you about to submit your manuscript to an important journal for publication? The illustrations you submit play an important part in how your article is received and reviewed. Submitting less-than-professional artwork is tantamount to submitting a poorly written review article. The graphics you provide are part of your research. They deserve the same attention given to the text.
This is where I come in. I will take your sketches, PowerPoint slides, or data sets and provide lucid, clear, beautiful graphics that effectively communicate your research. I understand the journal’s illustration guidelines and will provide high-quality, press-ready graphics for publication that will not be rejected due to a technicality. I will avoid delays that can jeopardize the submission process. I will provide a cost estimate for approval before any work begins. My turn-around time is super fast.
I have successfully recast artwork for more than 1,000 labs worldwide. My artwork has been published in all leading journals produced by The American Society for Microbiology, The American Physiological Society, The American Society of Hematology, ACS NANO, CellPress, and Nature Reviews.
Books
Since 1989, I’ve produced so many art programs for so many books across so many scientific subjects that I have lost count. Producing high-quality artwork on time and on budget is something you can get from many studios, but what I offer is my ability to editorially oversee and develop your art program as I produce it. Bringing me on board is akin to adding a second developmental editor to oversee the consistency and clarity of your art program. I offer three levels of art development and production:
Level 1: Questions are posed to the author/DE on first-pass artwork. Also included is ensuring pedagogically consistent use of icons and color during production.
Level 2: A review of the art manuscript prior to beginning the first draft artwork. Creating concept sketches (as needed) that are sent to the author/developmental editor for review. Also included is ensuring pedagogically consistent use of icons and color during production.
Level 3: Development meeting(s) with the author(s)/developmental editor is scheduled. I will travel to meet personally with the professor at a setting of their choice. Here, sketches are created and concepts are discussed in a dynamic and creative atmosphere. Also included is ensuring pedagogically consistent use of icons and color during production.
Page Building
Pouring, formatting text and placing images may seem simple enough, but care must be taken to maximize the space on the page and encourage the user to move forward through the text. Skilled in both Quark and InDesign, I have produced 700-page textbooks and simple brochures. In 2007, I earned The Hermes Creative Platinum Award for corporate design for my work on Christiana Care Hospital’s Strategic Visions Corporate Information Communication binder.
Animation development/storyboarding
Animating a scientific process pops the lid off of a can of worms. In a static image, it’s okay to gloss over an area that is unknown in a process by simply stating “and then something happens,” but with animation you are not afforded that luxury. Something is always happening.
I have written voice-over script and developed storyboards, and even done a fair amount of voice over work (people say I have a voice fit for radio). Many times I am brought into an animation process only to find that much of what is being voiced in the current script is actually happening on the screen. Scientists tend to write scripts as though they are writing research papers. This is not their fault. They haven’t been trained to know what information may be carried by the animation and what must be explained with script. My strength here is my ability to visualize the animation in process as I am writing the script. Being able to see the big picture enables me to streamline the voice-over script so that it adds to the animation and does not compete with it. Once again, it’s all about translation.