My Design Blog
Sometimes I Write About Design
Do professional artists draw for fun?
Frequently Asked Question: Do professional artists draw for fun? Above art: Sterba's Corydora, Harlequin Rasbora, and White breasted nuthatch. ©2014 Ikumi Kayama. Let me share some pages from my small sketchbook. It's about 6" x 6", and the paper is thick...
11 Science Gift Ideas
Science Gift Ideas - Unique and Different Gifts Are you looking for a neat gift for your favorite scientist? Do they already have crazy ties, shirts, and Newton's cradles for the office? Are you tired of trying to fit so many mugs in your cupboard? Do you know...
9.5 Last-minute Halloween Costume Ideas for Science Lovers
Are you ready for Halloween? We rolled up our crafty (or nerdy) sleeves to bring you easy, fast, and environmentally friendly Halloween costume ideas for scientists and science lovers. Bonus- none of these costumes involves you with a lab coat. Here are the 9.5...
10 Differences between scientific illustrators and general illustrators
Hi, I'm Ikumi, and I'm a scientific illustrator. The usual response to that is , "what's that?" and "I've never met one, how cool". Then the conversation drifts to how one becomes a scientific illustrator. Usually the scientific illustrator loves both science and art...
[Contest] Share your research for a chance to win custom artwork!
Update 10/24/13: Since we had less than 3 entries, all entrants have won prizes. Congrats! Win custom artwork by an award-winning medical & scientific illustrator! Do you ever struggle to explain your area of technical expertise? Would you like a visual to...
Medical Media and Power of Illustration
Medical Media for Education Not so long ago, it used to be that only experts could access expert knowledge, research, and diagnosis. There was a great divide of knowledge between doctors and patients. Whatever the doctor told the patient was the only information...
Why Sansa is not as dumb as you think.
Game of Thrones and Visual Communication- Sansa Stark [Spoiler Alert! If you haven't read the books or seen the series, it is highly recommend that you do. I haven't read the books, and this is my personal opinion and observation of Sansa Stark from the Game of...
Awards and Recognitions
Work by Studio Kayama has been recognized by many national and local level organizations. Frank H. Netter, MD Memorial Scholarship in Medical Art Ikumi is the recipient of Frank H. Netter, MD Memorial Scholarship in Medical Art from Johns Hopkins University School of...
Visuals make learning easier and faster…part 5. Article Review-last part.
Visuals vs Non-visuals? Yeah whatever, let's start a new experiment! Note: This is part 5 of a series of posts reviewing some of the origins of scientific claims that compare text vs visuals. Access part 1 here. Access part 2 here. Access part 3 here. Access...