Meet your science communication consultant!

Ian Cooke-Tapia

Creative Director | Visual Storytelling Forgemaster

Multidisciplinary writer, illustrator, entrepreneur, and storyteller, often with feet on different continents, and hands in many pies. Both literally and figuratively. Ian grew up around tropical biologists and archaeologists, which planted a lifelong interest in the anthropogenic environment. 

Over time, he’s become fascinated with how scientific research can be disseminated through arts and how research can become culture. Originally a reportage illustrator on field expeditions, Ian noticed that there is a niche need for engaging and jocular science communication that goes beyond graphs and textbooks and truly tries to answer the question of how humans learn. Current research: How stories can help us learn? How to create effective and affective visual learning material?

Rachel

Marketing Assistant and Visual Communications Druid-of-Excellence

Rachel is an illustrator and aspiring professional animator. She is going to study Animation Production at Arts University Bournemouth in September 2022, and in the meantime she is thoroughly enjoying working as an intern for Cooked Illustrations.

Her role involves administrative work, digital marketing, and content creation for different projects. Her first love has always been drawing and she loves nothing more than doodling for hours on end.

Jess Jenkins

Illustration & Animation Affiliate

Jess is an illustrator foremost. But also a designer, animator, Japanophile, and mother to four rats and a cat. She is known as an Archivist of Memes, that ancient communication art. Ever since she was a child and first learned what the ‘illustrated by...’ on the front of her picture books meant, she has wanted to be an illustrator. Jess aspires to create imagery and tell stories that can inspire and spread joy and positivity.

The themes of mental health and wellness are often explored in Jess’ work. With a psychologist as a mother, friends struggling with their mental health and her own adversities, the theme is quite prevalent and important in her life. In 2016 she received a Creative Conscience award for her animation about the dangers of overlooking mental health.

Roque Lagrotta

Software Designer | Website Magician

Roque can be found in his natural environment, singing, programming, learning about new technology, and skating. Sometimes all at once. His aerodynamic body makes this an easier feat. Born to a family of writers, musicians and artists, Roque’s thinking was different and oft distracted, which made it difficult to fit in with his peers’ love for that thing called “sports”. Thus, he built a refuge made of pencils and whatever piece of leftover paper he could draw on. While in college, he had his first brush with toolkits that allowed him to fuse design, programming and digital technology to make things that really filled him with joy. 

Partnering up with a friend, who was a bit of a buffoon, Roque created a short story combining animation and interactive design. This experiment was the beginning of a journey that allowed him to build up the skills and portfolio that got him into a small web design studio. Sixteen years later, and with the same passion for storytelling, Roque’s on the prowl for new ways to fuse art and tech as a way to discover new mediums to tell stories.

Jessy Zschorn

DESIGN & WEB EXTRODINARE

With a long history background in the creative arts, Jessica has dabbled professionally in illustration, photography and videography before finally taking the leap into the fields she loves frolicking in the most: design, branding and web.

Long childhoods spent scribbling comics in a dark bedroom by herself until the early morning has prepared Jessy well for the late night life of a web designer and branding expert. Armed with a first class honours in visual communication and a busy, few professional years under her belt, Jessy is confident, experienced and always looking for the best way to inspire clients in expanding their branding. 

Andrea Renaud

Illustration & Animation Affiliate

Andrea is a designer, illustrator and animator. She hopes to show playful ideas through personal and client projects, using vibrant color palettes, cartoony shapes,  abstraction, simplicity and hand-drawn elements. She’s a fan of minimalist design, point & click games, all kinds of films, travelling, and anything provocative, really.

(@siestaisfiesta)