About
Cominata has one goal: to make science communication more accessible. Visually!
We are a one-stop shop for resources and content designed to support researchers, students, educators, and the general public better communicate (and understand) complex ideas.
Cominata is an initiative by Cooked Illustrations, a visual research communications agency based in Wales. After several years working with scientific researchers from such diverse fields as marine biology, paleoecology, sociology and arts research, we realised that there is a growing need for products and resources that fulfil specific communication needs at an affordable price. Since funding structures for science communication can sometimes be hard to acquire or require quite a bit of stakeholder investment, we hope that this repository for resources helps us transform the way in which researchers, organisations, educators, and the general public are able to communicate knowledge.
Why call it Cominata?
Cominata is a colloquial name for catfishes usually found around estuarine or brackish water environments in Panama. The word describes individuals within the Ariidae family, and is mostly used by fishing communities on the Pacific side of Panama.
The species portrayed in the logo is Notarius cookei, a species named after Dr Richard Cooke, the father of Cooked Illustration’s founder Ian Cooke Tapia, who passed away in February 2023.
The decision to name the shop Cominata is an act of remembrance and a memento for what could have been.
But why does it look so cartoony and “unserious”?
Precisely because all the other available content doesn’t look like it! Our experience working with communities and audience has told us that an idea communicated jovially and colloquially is much more effective at engaging audiences, no matter who they are. People’s attention basically evaporates if they look at a very, very familiar (or uninteresting) image.
As such, our content is drawn to stand out from the rest!
Our illustrated content is hand-made by a team of professional illustrators from diverse backgrounds and geographies, and informed by ongoing live conversations with scientific researchers, accessibility experts, d/Disabled people and educators. This way, we can identify what kind of resources and content is most needed and work accordingly.
Equitable Science Communication
By developing affordable communication content, we hope to reduce gaps in outreach and science communication, making it easier for researchers to explain their findings, and increase the impact of research long term.
It is our commitment to develop more equitable communication solutions. As this new business enterprise develops, the Cooked Illustrations team will commit to set aside a percentage of total net profits to create a fund which would provide grants for emergent researchers from the developing world to afford science and artistic services. This is a new venture and still under development. As Cominata develops as a brand and ecommerce site, we hope to have a much more detailed plan of action.
Do you make custom work?
We do!
If you have an idea for content you would like us to make, eventually, please fill in this form:
If you or your organisation requires custom-made icons, illustrations, educational resources or other science communication services, please get in touch with Cooked Illustrations here.