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Data-driven medical and scientific illustration by our board-certified medical illustrators.
Microbiome Scientific Illustration for Nature
Nature
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Scientific Illustration
Scientific American
Autoimmune disease medical illustration
Biopharmaceutical client
CRISPR: A Revolution in Genetics
Scientific American
This is Your Brain in Meltdown
Scientific American
Kidney Disease Progression in ADPKD
Otsuka Pharmaceutical; BioScience Communications
The Antithrombotic Conundrum
Biotechnology client
The Vital Organs
Esquire Magazine
Extracellular Vesicles
Biotechnology client
Refractory Mechanism of the Human Eye
Bausch + Lomb; BioScience Communications
Epigenetic Links to Addiction & Depression
Scientific American
It’s been an absolute pleasure working with AXS. They overhauled our scientific materials, providing a consistent look across all our tangible and digital assets to convey our scientific pipeline in a graphically appealing way.
Heather Douangpanya
Director, Global Scientific Communications, Seagen Inc.
You guys are doing great work! The animation with the electric field displayed has been an 'AH-HA' moment for all of our Doctors, strategic collaborators and many of our employees!
Allan Zingeler
President & CEO, Farapulse
The AXS team was a pleasure to work with and I greatly appreciated their creative and scientific expertise. The videos received outstanding feedback and are one of the most popular assets for our disease state education campaign.
Rachel Raynes
Global Medical Communications, Senior Manager | Heart Failure GCCL, AMGEN
We chose AXS Studio because of their unique ability to curate a better, more visually impactful story resonating with both a scientific and non-scientific target audience.
Glen Tinevez
Vice President, Marketing North America Commercial Operations,
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
Ortho Clinical Diagnostics
AXS was a true partner in creating highly compelling MOA videos for an important pharma client. They collaborated with us through numerous challenges on a tight schedule and hit our deadline with a product our client loved!
Senior Account Executive, Goodfuse
The team at AXS are true pros. They asked all of the right questions from the start, from technical/scientific details to overall look and feel, and completed this amazing cover rather quickly as a result.
Kelly Krause
Creative Director, Nature
Collaborating with the AXS team on high-impact science visualization projects is always a pleasure. I can rest assured that the final product will be clear, elegant, and beautiful while meeting our target audience’s needs.
Fabian de Kok-Mercado
Creative Director, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
These are absolutely fantastic visualizations. They convey the real science. I still am incredibly proud of what we did together on this video and I use it in my lectures to Harvard students and externally.
Donald E. Ingber
MD, PhD, Director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
Who we've proudly worked with
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to tell your story.
Illustration
Our in-house medical expertise saves you time, effort and money. As highly-trained scientific communicators, we bring a unique blend of science knowledge and artistry to your project. Clients count on us for accurate, error-free medical and scientific illustrations that provide insight and inspiration.
We have experience in a wide range of therapeutic categories and a broad background in physiology, anatomy, cell biology and molecular biology.
Why invest in accurate medical illustration?
- Medical illustrations help patients and caregivers comprehend unfamiliar disease and treatment information
- Medical illustrations save healthcare providers (HCPs) valuable time on patient education
- Medical illustrations are an effective way to communicate new disease state and treatment information to HCPs
- Medical illustrations that are accurate enhance the credibility of life science companies
- An excellent medical illustration has many uses: Websites, detail aids, exhibit booths, investor presentations, news releases, journal articles and more
The AXS Studio difference
Our team is stacked with 6 board-certified medical illustrators who ensure your visuals are accurate and expertly crafted every time. We’re trained in anatomy, physiology, pathology, cell and molecular biology. We speak the language science—your language—making us the perfect partner for your visual communication needs.
Creative visual storytellers
We love to explain medical science concepts through pictures. Whether it’s a breakthrough discovery like CRISPR or a complex pathology, we’re inspired to help others understand the science of life, disease and treatments.
We accelerate understanding
Medical illustration makes complex ideas easier to understand. With better understanding come better decisions, which is especially important in life science and healthcare!
Certified medical illustrators (CMIs)
There are many random healthcare agencies that use generalists who are not trained, let alone certified, in medical illustration. This results in errors and headaches for clients. Our team comprises CMIs with postgraduate degrees in biomedical communication. This in-house expertise saves you valuable time and effort, and delivers a better product.
We speak the language of science
Our Client Services team members have life science backgrounds and extensive experience helping clients develop medical illustrations. We speak the same scientific language as our clients and understand their unique challenges in presenting disease and therapeutic information in a highly regulated environment. We provide a supplier partnership you won’t find elsewhere.
Illustration down to a science
All medical illustration work is done by our in-house certified medical illustrators. This affords us tight control over the creative workflow, eliminating errors and enabling us to meet our clients’ deadlines.
Prepared for success
Rigid material review process and difficult reviewers? No problem. Our medical illustrations are referenced and prepared to your specifications. Our scientific expertise and rigorous workflow ensure that submissions are delivered on time and ready to pass medical and regulatory reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a medical illustration take to create?
Two to six weeks, depending on the content and complexity of the visuals. Another factor is the client-side review process. We recommend contacting us 2–3 months before you need your medical illustration completed.
How much does medical illustration cost?
There is no standard pricing for medical illustration. The price depends on the complexity, use and reproduction rights needed. Once we know these details, we will provide you with a free estimate.
What’s included in the price of a medical illustration?
This varies among providers and so does the quality of service and degree of content expertise. AXS Studio pricing includes project management, content research, preparatory sketches, 3D modeling, rendering and compositing, with multiple rounds of review and revision.
Who uses medical illustration and why?
Patient education is an essential part of a physician’s job. Medical illustrations play an important role, helping physicians explain medical conditions and therapeutic options to patients and caregivers.
Medical science liaisons use medical illustrations in their detail aids and presentations to educate physicians and nurses about new disease research and therapeutic mechanisms.
Disease information websites feature medical illustrations to help patients and caregivers understand medical conditions and treatment options so they can make informed choices about care.
Medical affairs personnel at pharmaceutical companies use medical illustration to explain disease pathways to healthcare providers at symposia and congresses.
Pharmaceutical product and marketing managers use medical illustration to explain the therapeutic mechanism of action of drugs to healthcare providers in publications, on websites and in medical congress exhibits.
Specialists use medical illustrations in presentations to describe everything from molecular disease pathways to new surgical procedures.
Patient advocates use medical illustration to explain disease information and treatments to the public. Medical illustrations can communicate clearly to people of all literacy levels.
Scientific journals like Nature and popular science magazines like Scientific American often publish medical and scientific illustrations to explain content within articles.
What do clients say about medical illustrations by AXS Studio?
Clients say we’re unlike other studios in that we “get the science”. There isn’t the need to teach it to us first or go through multiple rounds of changes like they’ve experienced with random companies that don’t employ certified medical illustrators.
Why hire AXS Studio over another medical illustration studio?
Many businesses claiming to be scientific illustration or animation companies employ generalist illustrators or animators trained for film and TV. Their lack of medical and scientific training results in inaccuracies that misinform viewers and embarrass clients. At AXS Studio, we employ Certified Medical Illustrators who are specially trained in communicating medical content accurately and clearly. For our clients, this results in credible and effective images that speak to both lay audiences and medical professionals.
Are medical illustrators certified?
While it is not a requirement to practice, certification ensures a professional standard has been met and maintained. A Certified Medical Illustrator (CMI) has passed examinations in ethics, biomedical science and illustration skills, and has passed a rigorous portfolio review. Competencies are maintained by meeting continuing education requirements (CEUs) and must be renewed every five years. CMI certification is administered by the Board of Certification of Medical Illustrators and is based on standards established by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
When hiring AXS Studio, do I need to provide a subject matter expert?
You do not because we have in-house medical science expertise. Our artists have specialized postgraduate training in medical illustration, which includes courses in physiology, pathology, anatomy, cell and molecular biology. We have six Board Certified Medical Illustrators (CMIs) on staff and have been illustrating complex medical processes for a discerning healthcare professional audience since 2004. While we’re always happy to work with subject matter experts, it’s not a requirement.
I’ve heard of companies that offer medical illustration at a discount by offshoring to low labor markets. Does AXS outsource to offshore suppliers?
Some of our competitors in the US and UK offshore or outsource medical illustration to cut costs. We do not. All of our illustrations are created in-house by our certified medical illustrators. This gives us excellent control of quality and timelines, which is essential for meeting your deadline. Quality medical illustration demands a high degree of specialized knowledge and training that can’t be replicated in an offshoring/outsourcing model.
Do you sell stock medical illustration?
We have some work that can be licensed for use. However, most of our medical illustrations were created custom for specific clients and are not for resale.
I’m pitching a journal cover. Will you give a discount if my illustration isn’t selected?
The same amount or work goes into a medical illustration whether or not it’s chosen by a publisher, therefore we do not discount the price for work that goes unpublished. It is recommended to first pitch your concept to the publisher, with a sketch, before hiring a medical illustrator.
Can my medical illustration be animated at a later date?
Illustrations and animations frequently use many of the same elements, including 3D models and rendering processes. Nonetheless, animation is more involved than illustration and takes longer to develop. When making an animation following an illustration, we factor the repurposed work into the animation cost.
Can I upsize a small medical illustration if I need a larger version?
While you can print a larger size than originally intended or increase the dimensions of the digital file, the resolution of the image will not scale respectively. The scaled picture may appear blurry and will display artifacts. It is important to create the illustration at the largest size you’re likely to need and then scale down when smaller versions suffice.
When I commission a medical illustration, do I own it?
If your service agreement specifies a buy-out or transfer of copyright, you can reproduce the medical illustration as you wish. Otherwise, your agreement will include a license that specifies the terms of use, including duration. In both cases, the illustration must not be modified without permission of the creator, nor resold to a third party. The working files, or “source files”, remain property of the creator of the illustration.
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Toronto, ON, M5V 2H1
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