Cover Feature for ChemSusChem 12/2026

I worked closely with the team at Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg to explore effective ways of illustrating the complex processes underlying their scientific findings. The greatest challenge was balancing scientific accuracy with the creation of a visually engaging cover illustration that tells a compelling story – an adventure through the macroscopic world of chemistry.

The visual concept emerged through an ongoing dialogue with the scientific team. By listening carefully to how they explained their research, I was able to identify the key processes and relationships that could be translated into a visual narrative. Their descriptions inspired the idea of combining a fluid, underwater environment with oligomer chains being recognized, processed, and transformed by a large amidase enzyme.
As the amidase is the central and most active component of the research, it naturally became the main protagonist of the illustration. I reimagined the enzyme as a powerful underwater creature with searching, hungry tentacles, inspired by the legendary giant octopuses and sea monsters of maritime folklore. This metaphor transforms an abstract biochemical process into a dynamic visual story: the enzyme actively seeks out, captures, and degrades the polymer chains, making the underlying scientific mechanism both intuitive and memorable while remaining accurate to the research.