Science Artwork and Puzzles: Wimmelbild Reimagines Life in the Biology Lab

Imagine peering into a petri dish to find not just a single specimen, but an entire bustling science artwork—cells commuting, proteins mingling, and organelles throwing a party.

Welcome to the imaginative world of wimmelbilder, or “teeming pictures,” where every glance reveals a new micro-adventure. Originating from the German tradition of richly detailed illustrations, these over-the-top images present a delightful chaos of characters and narratives, much like the intricate interplay within a living cell.

For life scientists, wimmelbilder may serve as a whimsical mirror to the complexity observed under the microscope— where every element, no matter how small, plays a pivotal role.

We asked wimmelbilder artist Samuel Hayward to imagine a lab that couldn’t exist, full of hidden gems that celebrate research, creativity, and the joy of finding what others might miss.

Q+A with scientific illustration artist Samuel Hayward

1. Tell us a bit about yourself! How did you get your start as an illustrator and artist?

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember, and eventually people started paying me to do it. I worked in advertising for a couple of years, taking the odd commission, but I’ve been a freelance illustrator full-time for about two and a half years now.

2. What drew you to wimmelbild illustrations, and how do you approach creating these intricate, detailed scenes? The concepting stage of these pieces must be fun!

I first started doing this type of illustration during the COVID-19 lockdowns for some sort of escapism. People seemed to like them, so I kept making them.

3. What does the rest of the wimmelbild creation process look like? Do you sketch by hand and scan, or draft digitally? How long does it take, what tools do you use, and what kind of research do you need to do?

Sometimes I do little preparatory sketches in pencil, but for the most part I work digitally. I use a digital tablet and graphics editing software. Usually they take a good few weeks, depending how big the image is, but I can’t work on one thing all day every day or I think I’d lose my mind. The research is mostly looking through lots and lots of reference pictures and sometimes sketching out a bunch of character poses to see what looks good.

4. Thermo Fisher Scientific asked you to imagine a life science lab in wimmelbild form. How did you tackle the challenge of building a specialized, technical setting in a whimsical format? What were some of your favorite details to include?

I think the technical setting makes a nice contrast for weird characters and things playing out in the puzzle artwork scene. That probably contributes to the whimsy. I always enjoy including tiny details that people may or may not notice. My favorite detail in the puzzle is a little portrait of Sasquatch on the desk next to the Invitrogen™ Bigfoot™ Spectral Cell Sorter instrument.

5. What topics and ideas inspire you in your art — and is science one of them? Or is there any particular area of science that sparks your interest outside of art these days?

I’ve definitely been interested in science for a long time, particularly in natural history. I try to pick a different topic to immerse myself in when making any of this kind of [wimmelbild] image –maybe a specific type of architecture, or a period in time, or a genre of films.

Explore more of the artist’s work

You can check out Samuel’s other work here:

• Samuel Hayward Illustration
• Etsy
• Instagram

Science puzzle challenge: find the hidden objects!

We’ve hidden some of our most popular innovations and instruments in the illustration. Can you find these life science products in the scene?

Cell & Tissue Culture

• Invitrogen Neon™ NxT Electroporation System
• Invitrogen EVOS™ M3000 Imaging System
• Gibco™ media
• Thermo Scientific™ Nunc™ Cell Culture Treated Flask
• Gibco Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS)

PCR & Genetic Analysis

• Thermo Scientific KingFisher™ PlasmidPro Maxi Processor
• Applied Biosystems™ VeritiPro™ Thermal Cycler
• Applied Biosystems Automated Thermal Cycler
• Applied Biosystems QuantStudio™ 7 Pro Real-Time PCR System
• Applied Biosystems SeqStudio™ 24 Flex Genetic Analyzer
• Applied Biosystems TaqMan™ Fast Advanced Master Mix for qPCR
• Invitrogen SuperScript™ IV Reverse Transcriptase

Flow Cytometry

• Invitrogen Attune™ Xenith™ Flow Cytometer
• Invitrogen Bigfoot Cell Sorter

Protein Analysis

• Invitrogen iBlot™ 3 Western Blot Transfer Device
• Invitrogen EVOS M7000 Imaging System

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Artist Disclaimer: The artist is an independent creator. Views expressed by the artist do not reflect those of Thermo Fisher Scientific.