Episode art for NPR’s podcast Invisibilia

The NPR podcast Invisibilia explores the invisible forces shaping human behavior, ideas, beliefs and assumptions. As an art director on three seasons of the podcast, I worked with hosts and producers on visually translating each season’s unique theme into compelling, emotional art.

For Season 3, the show took a darker turn into the human psyche. Each episode explored stories through a prism of varying perspectives and shifting realities — where the world isn’t quite as real as you might think. Artist Marina Muun’s dark, dreamsicle palette and conceptual explorations of otherwordly emotions encapsulated the tone of the season perfectly.

In previous seasons of the podcast, I worked with artists Sara Wong and Kristen Uroda.

Episode art was used to promote stories on NPR.org and Apple podcasts as well as live listening events and promotional items. I produced the visuals for multiple online features, spin-off content, and an animated video with artist Lily Padula which was later recognized by the Society of Illustrators with a gold award.

Top left, clockwise: Marina Munn Invisibilia season art; Marina Munn, S4E1; Sara Wong, S3; Marina Munn, S4; Sara Wong, S3; Marina Munn, S4; Sara Wong, S3; Marina Munn, S4.

 Illustration at NPR

When I began working on the science desk at NPR in 2015, illustration was a relatively new visual medium for the newsroom. Together with my colleague LA Johnson, we set out to build a larger community of diverse artists to conceptualize NPR’s reporting. We started a Tumblr account called NPR Illustration to tap into the network of freelancers creating content on that platform. We wrote up interviews with artists, dissected assignments, shared work we were following, and talked openly about our processes as art directors. We wanted to be transparent about how to get work onto NPR.org.

We attended ICON conferences and met artists who were increasingly doing comics journalism. We brought on NPR’s first illustration interns. And over time, along with other visual editors at NPR, we built connections with freelancers who bring fresh perspectives and a challenging new aesthetic to NPR’s reporting.

Comics journalism

As a photographer and videographer, I’ve always been drawn to graphic novels and comics as a form of visual storytelling. They work off many of the same elements of visual language — metaphors, sequence, use of color, line, form — yet illustration is a uniquely powerful tool in storytelling, especially in the recreation of personal narratives or explainer journalism. In 2017, I worked on one of NPR’s first pieces of comics journalism (The Scientist Who Escaped Aleppo) and since then, I’ve been an editor/art director on more than a dozen graphic narratives, from deeply reported issues to science explainers to first-person stories of health workers during the pandemic.

Here are a few of those comics.

The surprising science of how pregnancy begins (2023)

In a post-Roe v. Wade country, state legislatures and courts are deciding on when exactly a person becomes pregnant. However, the fundamental science behind conception is clear — pregnancy is not a precise moment. It’s a process. And it often ends before it even begins.

I worked on this piece with a small team, including NPR reporter Selena Simmons-Duffin, visual journalist LA Johnson and digital editor Deborah Franklin.

Read the full comic here. An Instagram version is here.

You’re Wearing It Wrong: A Face Mask Refresher (2020)

Working on the science desk during the pandemic was challenging. Science in real-time often changed public health guidance. However, masking was one topic that continually came up. How to wear them? How to wash or store them? Best masks to filter particulates?

NPR graphics journalist Connie Hanzhang Jin pitched a comic on masking as a way to revisit the kinds of masks out there and best ways to wear them. I worked with them to prioritize the storytelling for Instagram audiences in both format and length. And because, cats.

View the full comic on npr.org here and the Instagram version here.

The Scientist Who Escaped Aleppo (2017)

Two NPR reporters returned from an assignment in Germany with an incredible story of a scientist who had fled Aleppo in 2013 during the Syrian refugee crisis and ended up in Germany where he was able to stay as a researcher and ultimately reunite with his family. The story was heartbreaking, emotional, and illustrated the terrifying journey refugees take to find safety. The graphic narrative format allowed us to take readers into his experiences as they happened. Comic journalist Erik Nelson Rodriguez beautifully drew the piece based off Nedal’s own words as well as photographs.

After it published, the comic caught the attention of curators at the Library of Congress who ultimately archived it within their collections.

View the full comic here.