Books & Large Projects | near-bird-studios

top of page

Science Illustration & Graphic Design

Books & Large Projects

MedStudy

I was MedStudy's main medical illustrator from 2017-2024. I created the majority of the artwork for their Student Core and Internal Medicine QBank+ products. In total, I've made several hundred illustrations for them.

As a medical education company, clarity and approachability are key to the company style, both in art and in text. Vector graphics, created in Adobe Illustrator, work very well for this purpose.

Brain slices

Cross-section of an eye with an inset of the lens and cornea

Anatomical diagrams of the neck showing the thyroid gland, trachea, esophagus, blood vessels, nerves, and other structures.

Schematic diagram of the GI system walls, showing mucosa, muscular layers, blood vessels, nerves, and serosa.

Brain slices and their corresponding body parts

Three skulls from the front, with purple shading showing the areas covered by Le Fort 1, 2, and 3 fractures.

Anatomy of the lens, iris, cornea, and related structures.

Anatomical diagram showing the brain, meninges, skull, connective tissue, skin, and repated structures.

Diagram of protein chains, helices, pleated sheets, and more complex structures.

Inset of the listed anatomy, as well as a small lung for context.

The listed anatomy, plus an inset showing the layers of the bladder wall.

The listed structures within the kidney cortex.

Diagram showing a cross section of a kidney with an inset. There is emphasis on the arteries and veins.

Frontal view of the eye with associated muscles. There are arrows indicating the directions they move the eye. At the bottom is a list of the muscles and their functions.

Cross section of the lower head and upper neck showing the hypoglossal nerve's origin in the brainstem and the areas it innervates.

Schematic diagram of the visual tract as seen from above with areas of damage marked. There is also a series of diagrams showing the type of visual field defect resulting from each damaged spot.

Ventral and lateral views of the listed anatomy.

A looping gif of a pair of lungs, breathing.

Brain slices

Cross-section of an eye with an inset of the lens and cornea

Anatomical diagrams of the neck showing the thyroid gland, trachea, esophagus, blood vessels, nerves, and other structures.

Schematic diagram of the GI system walls, showing mucosa, muscular layers, blood vessels, nerves, and serosa.

Brain slices and their corresponding body parts

Three skulls from the front, with purple shading showing the areas covered by Le Fort 1, 2, and 3 fractures.

Anatomy of the lens, iris, cornea, and related structures.

Anatomical diagram showing the brain, meninges, skull, connective tissue, skin, and repated structures.

Diagram of protein chains, helices, pleated sheets, and more complex structures.

Inset of the listed anatomy, as well as a small lung for context.

"Performance All the Way Down: Genes, Development, and Sexual Difference," by Richard O. Prum, 2023

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. A tangle of excitatory and inhibitory pathways lead from a bipotent gonad at the top of the figure to ovary and testis at the bottom.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. The undifferentiated tract shows indifferent gonads, Mullerian ducts, and Wolffian ducts. The female structure shows ovaries, uterus, and vagina along with the remains of the atrophied Wolffian ducts, and the male tract shows testes and vas deferens with attrophied Mullerian ducts.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. At day 46, the Mullerian ducts are still distinct, but have started to fuse together from the bottom to form the utero-vaginal canal. By day 56, they've fused together for about a third of their visible length. Around day 120, they've largely finished fusing and have developed into (from the top) the Fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described processes. Starting at week 6 with a cloaca and genital tubercle, the female and male structures differentiate by week 10, and by week 14 the major structures have been formed: for females, the clitoris, labiae, urethra, and vagina, and for males, the urethra, glans, penis, and scrotum.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. At around three months, the testes have developed in the abdomen. Around seven months, they are moving down through the inguinal canal, pulled by the gubernaculum ligament. At around nine months, the testes have exited the inguinal canal and entered the scrotum.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described anatomy. A has entirely separate urethra and vagina, B has the vagina and urethra joined internally, a prostate, and a large clitoris/hypospadic penis, C has a bifid scrotum, small vagina, and urethra at the base of a hypospadic penis/large clitoris, and D has a typical urethra.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. The landscapes have ridges and valleys to direct development, which is represented by rolling balls (or climbing creatures). A shows a strongly canalized landscape, B shows a weakly canalized one, and C is basically an inverted B, with creatures climbing from the bottom to the tops of peaks.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described structures. At the top is a schematic diagram of amino acid base pairs and their component molecules. The figure zooms out to show the DNA twisting into a double helix, then winding around histones, then coiled into chromatin, then finally coalescing into the recognizable shape of a chromosome.

Line drawing of a phylogenetic tree with emphasis on reproductive evolutionary developments in the mammal line.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. A tangle of excitatory and inhibitory pathways lead from a bipotent gonad at the top of the figure to ovary and testis at the bottom.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. The undifferentiated tract shows indifferent gonads, Mullerian ducts, and Wolffian ducts. The female structure shows ovaries, uterus, and vagina along with the remains of the atrophied Wolffian ducts, and the male tract shows testes and vas deferens with attrophied Mullerian ducts.

Greyscale vector figure depicting the described process. At day 46, the Mullerian ducts are still distinct, but have started to fuse together from the bottom to form the utero-vaginal canal. By day 56, they've fused together for about a third of their visible length. Around day 120, they've largely finished fusing and have developed into (from the top) the Fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina.

"Metazoa: Animal Life and the Birth of the Mind," by Peter Godfrey-Smith, 2020

I was one of two illustrators who contributed work to this book.

Digital line drawing of three stages labeled Nama, White Sea, and Avalon with reconstructed fossil animals. The creatures are anatomically strange, and many look more like plants.

Digital line drawing of several extinct animals.

Digital line drawing of a reconstructed group of fossil animals.

A phylogenetic tree with digital line drawings of animals.

A phylogenetic tree with digital line drawings of animals.

A phylogenetic tree with digital line drawings of animals.

Digital line drawing of three stages labeled Nama, White Sea, and Avalon with reconstructed fossil animals. The creatures are anatomically strange, and many look more like plants.

Digital line drawing of several extinct animals.

Digital line drawing of a reconstructed group of fossil animals.

A phylogenetic tree with digital line drawings of animals.

"The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—and Us," by Richard O. Prum, 2017

I contributed a few figures to Rick Prum's Pulitzer finalist book.