Bio
My professional creative practice dances between science illustration, graphic design, and the lettering arts. I make custom logotypes, hand lettered brand assets, and natural science imagery featuring native plants, wildlife, and geology.
The texture and expressive quality of my handmade typographic work lends a human feeling and approachability to the subject or brand at hand. In my science-centered work, I meld beauty and accuracy to visually explain scientific concepts to the general public and/or other scientists and researchers. By educating the viewer, my work imparts a deeper understanding of our natural world, encouraging environmental stewardship and supporting research and conservation efforts.
I became interested in plants on a trip to New Zealand, where I began to study them through drawing. Prior to that, an affinity for vintage typography took shape in an old farmhouse filled with antiques, and later, a copy Atkinson Sign Painting from a perceptive professor.
I dove more formally into these subjects in the Cooper Union’s Type@Cooper certificate program, and the Science Illustration Certificate Program at CSUMB, with an internship at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Department of Botany.
My client list includes the California Institute of Technology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Chronicle Books, Ten Speed Press, Artisan Books, Williams-Sonoma, Lululemon Athletica, and Meta, and a botanical illustration plate of mine is published in Harvard Papers in Botany.
I am an East Coast native based in Monterey, California.
Photo: Ryan Chard Smith
Industry Recognition
• Communication Arts Typography Annual 2017 & 2013
• Print Regional Design Annual 2008 & 2006
• Applied Arts Design Awards 2010
• Applied Arts Photography & Illustration Awards 2010
COLOPHON
This site was created using the Squarespace theme Avenue. The Ellis nameplate is hand lettered by me.
Bio portrait shot in Pacific Grove, CA by Ryan Chard Smith.
The typeface used throughout this site is Maiola by Veronika Burian and José Scaglione at TypeTogether.
Many of the documentation photographs on this site appear with credit; those without are taken by me