Turning science into cover art

Decorating the cover of each issue of Trends in Biochemical Sciences are pieces of art that depict or interpret the science within as visual masterpieces. In this twelfth and final installment of the TrendsTalk Special series: Scientific figure development, recent TIBS authors and artists consider the following questions: where does your inspiration come from when creating cover art? What balance do you aim for: abstract art, concrete examples, somewhere in-between? What medium or program(s) do you prefer for generating such figures and why? The scientists we hear from in this installment are Helen Dauben and Ivan Matic who created the October 2023 cover of TIBSi; Rune Thomas Kidmose and Bjørn Panyella Pedersen who contributed the November 2023 cover of TIBS; Tannishtha Saha and Michela Di Virgilio who designed the March 2021 cover of TIBSii; and Julie Sung, Cell Press illustrator and artist of the January 2023 cover of TIBSiii, which promoted the start of this special series.