The Vizzies 2016

How to run away if you are a small fish

We believe that graphic illustrations and artworks inspired by scientific investigation are a powerful tool to intuitively convey to a broad audience scientific discovery. This was our entry for the Vizzies 2016 in the scientific illustration category and was selected as finalist illustration.

When threatened, small fish exhibit a carefully choreographed and precisely timed escape motion: the C-start. By bending into a ‘C’ shape, they entrap with their body a large mass of water, which is then pushed downstream with a tail flip, imparting impressive accelerations to the fish.

We illustrate this dynamic process via a single image to enhance visual impact. The central piece is a hand-sketched fish, that seamlessly merges with the title, emphasizing the role of the ‘C’. The use of hand sketches animating rigorous flow analysis techniques, conveys the simple mechanisms behind the complexity of C-starts, while enhancing their beauty.