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Hi, I'm Avesta! 

I'm a designer, animator, and biomedical communicator.

I use creative problem-solving and visual storytelling to create highly accurate, informative, and innovative designs for education, research, and healthcare.

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I am a Canadian scientific designer and animator from rainy Vancouver, currently living in sunny Santa Cruz, California. I love taking complex science, simplifying it in a way that is understandable, and communicating it visually to a target audience. It's been said that "science is not finished until it’s communicated," and I couldn't agree more.

 

I currently work as a Multimedia Production Artist at 21GRAMS Rad Science, a part of Real Chemistry. You can find my previous work published in high-impact journals including Nature, Cell, and JAMA. I was professionally trained at the Biomedical Communications (MScBMC) program at the University of Toronto – one of four accredited programs in North America that teaches medical illustration. Previously, I earned my BSc (Hons) in Life Sciences at Queen's University with a minor in World Language Studies. 

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When I'm not knee-deep in SciArt, you can find me rock-climbing, abstract-painting, attempting astrophotography, or attending too many concerts. My newest hobby is creating science education visuals over at LumiSci on Instagram!

Featured Work

Media & Press

  1. NBC - 5 female trailblazers leading the fight for gender equity

  2. BBC - International Women's Day: Illustrating the Covid-19 pandemic

  3. Learn Medical Art - An interview with medical illustrator, Avesta Rastan

  4. Art the Science - Creators: Avesta Rastan

  5. GenW - Avesta Rastan on combining Art and Science in Biomedical Communications

  6. University of Toronto - BMC graduate answers the call to fight COVID-19

  7. Visual Capitalist - Visualizing what COVID-19 does to your body

  8. Discover Magazine - COVID-19: How does it affect you?

  9. World Economic Forum - This visualisation shows what COVID-19 does to your body

  10. NASA JPL Infographics - Planetary Satellites

  11. American Association of Ophthalmology - Pneumatic Retinopexy Video Series

Interviews & Speaking

  1. BMCAA UnCon 2020: Perspectives on Freelancing as a Medical Illustrator

  2. PreparationTech Interview: Communicating Complex Science

  3. The Art and Science of Data Visualization | LiveAI (2020)

  4. Effective Academic Poster Design | University of Toronto (2020)

  5. Intro to Science Visualization using Adobe Illustrator | University of Toronto (2019)

Select Recognition

  1. Award of Merit - Association of Medical Illustrators (2020)

  2. Top Talent - Adobe Design Achievement Awards (2019)

  3. Award of Merit - Association of Medical Illustrators (2019)

  4. Stephen Gilbert Award for excellence in biomedical visualization - University of Toronto, Biomedical Communications Program (2018)

  5. Ontario Graduate Scholarship for academic achievement and research potential - University of Toronto (2018)

Research

Ideate

Design

Deliver

iterate

iterate

Have any questions? Let's get in touch!

Santa Cruz, CA  |  azuravesta.design@gmail.com

Thanks for submitting!

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