Dr Emma Rehn

Waving paint strokes in blues, greens, gold, and white with flecks of paint across them

Science made visual

Custom illustrations and infographics to communicate your research

Contact me

About Emma

I’m Dr Emma Rehn (pronounced “ren”), an artist and research communicator based in Cairns, Australia. I have a scientific background in archaeology and palaeoenvironmental science (environments of the past). I create illustrations, infographics, and cartoon-style artwork as well as a range of communication products to promote, support, and share research projects and findings.

Please get in touch to discuss your graphics needs or potential research communication projects!

Get in touch

Services

A digital illustration of a turtle on a beach, water splashing as it reaches the ocean, tracks in the sand behind it

Illustrations

Including tiles for sharing across social media channels, technical illustrations for diagrams, and podcast cover art – click to view more

An infographic showing the past and present conditions of a wetland and a sediment core showing the changes through time

Infographics

Including visualising key concepts and summarising new publications – click here to view more

A logo showing a simplified map of Australia in yellow with pale flowers and leaves protruding around the edges. Red block letters atop the map read "VEGEMAP" and the background is black

Logos

Including bringing your ideas to life or developing a unique design – see VegeMap

Testimonials

Dr Alice Buhrich

Cultural heritage professional

“I engaged Emma to help communicate values for elements of a First Nations cultural landscape. Emma quickly grasped the requirements and exceeded my expectations in communicating some quite complex ideas through her illustrations. Emma was efficient, responsive & professional. I look forward to working with Emma again and highly recommend her work.”

Dr Jacob Martin

Forrest Research Foundation

“Working with Emma was an absolute delight! From the moment we shared our initial project brief, she displayed exceptional creativity presenting us with a diverse array of options. Emma was able to swiftly grasp our modification requests and execute them to improve our vision. She even managed to add that perfect touch to make the quokka appear irresistibly charming and adorable. I wholeheartedly recommend Emma to anyone seeking a fun and professional experience. We couldn’t be happier with the results.”

Dr Tahlia Perry

The University of Adelaide

“I had the pleasure of working with Emma to design a logo for a new citizen science project. Emma understood the brief and immediately provided mockups for our team to run with. It was a wonderful collaborative experience and she worked hard to make sure we were happy with every single detail, managing sometimes conflicting ideas. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to work with and the final design is outstanding.”

Dr John Tibby

The University of Adelaide

“The entire process of working with Emma Rehn was an absolute pleasure.  Emma was able to take abstract concepts and make them “spring to life” in ways I could not envisage.  I use Emma’s infographic to pitch for funding from people unfamiliar with my research.  Hence, the work needs to be informative but also simple to understand.  The process of modifying the original idea to final product was an absolute pleasure, and I’m looking forward to working with Emma again.”

Highlights Gallery

  • A digital graphic titled "Pint of Science Australia 10 years" showing animals and objects floating in space on a purple and blue background. In the centre, a whale swims out of a pint glass, with a koala and a frog in spacesuits on the left and right, respectively. Decorations include coral, stars, a book, planets, strands of DNA, and a radio telescope
    Official festival artwork for Pint of Science Australia 2024 by Dr Emma Rehn, Dr James O’Hanlon, and Keith Stanley
  • A cartoon drawing of a quokka wearing yellow glasses, smiling at the viewer and holding a sign. Text reads: 'Clever Quokkas'. A yellow and teal logo is in the top left corner, for Forrest Research Foundation, and the background is dark teal
    Podcast cover art for the Forrest Research Foundation podcast Clever Quokkas
  • Part of the ‘Correcting Critter Misconceptions with Comics’ series for the ANU subject Science & Humour
  • An infographic for the Supplementary Information podcast
  • A digital illustration showing white lineart on a black background, depicting three pint glasses filled with various objects and each containing a frog
    Official festival artwork for Pint of Science Australia 2022
  • A social media tile for GeoNadir
  • Three black and white illustrations of anterior, lateral (midline facing) and midline (lateral facing) views of half of a human maxilla
    Anatomical illustrations for undergraduate dentistry teaching at James Cook University
  • Two vertical-oriented cartoon panels. The first shows stratigraphic layers down through the dirt, including artefacts. Text on the left says 'STRATIGRAPHY' with each letter aligned to a layer from top to bottom. A cartoon girl on the surface says "Analysing the way layers have built up tells us about what people have done here through time!" The second panel shows complex stratigraphic layers including pits and burrows cutting into deeper layers, with artefacts and the letters S, T, T, I, P, Y, G scattered throughout. A cartoon girl on the surface says "...but it can get complicated!"
    A cartoon introducing stratigraphy for Letters to a Pre-Scientist
  • An infographic for the Supplementary Information podcast

Contact me

Send me an email or fill out the contact form here to get in touch about your research communication needs