Scientific illustration has its own vocabulary, and it’s easy to ask for the wrong thing. This glossary explains the terms biotech, medtech and cleantech teams use most when they brief an illustrator, with what each one is for and when you need it. Want help with a figure? See our scientific illustration services.
Figures that explain how your science works
Mechanism of action (MoA) illustration
A visual explanation of how a therapy produces its effect: what it binds, what that interaction triggers, and what changes in the cell or tissue as a result. MoA figures show up in investor decks, websites, publications and sales materials, and they’re often the single most reused image a biotech owns. A good one is accurate enough for a scientist and clear enough for a generalist investor.
Pathway schematic
A diagram of a biological pathway, such as a signaling cascade or metabolic route, showing the molecules involved and how they act on each other. Schematics use simplified shapes and arrows rather than realistic rendering, so the logic of the pathway stays easy to follow. They’re the usual way to show where in a pathway your drug or target sits.
Graphical abstract
A single image that summarizes the main finding of a paper or study. Many journals request one, and they’re increasingly shared on LinkedIn and conference sites. The goal is a figure someone can understand in a few seconds without reading the paper, so it usually has one clear visual flow from question to result.
Platform diagram
An illustration of how a platform technology works end to end, for example how an AI discovery engine, a screening system or a gene-editing toolkit turns inputs into candidates. Platform diagrams matter most for companies whose value is the engine, not a single asset, because investors and partners need to see why the platform is repeatable.
Process flow diagram
A step-by-step diagram of a physical or industrial process, such as a bioprocess, a manufacturing line or a chemical extraction. Each stage is shown in order with its inputs and outputs. We drew one for Lithios to show its lithium extraction process step by step.
Molecules, proteins and antibodies
Molecular visualization
A 3D rendering of a molecule or protein, often built from real structural data such as an entry in the Protein Data Bank. Molecular visualizations can be rendered in different styles depending on what you need to show, from scientifically exact to stylized hero imagery for a website.
Ribbon diagram
A way of drawing a protein that traces its backbone as ribbons, with helices shown as coils and beta sheets as arrows. Ribbon diagrams make a protein’s fold and structure readable, which is why they’re common in structural biology.
Surface representation
A rendering that shows a molecule’s outer surface, the shape another molecule actually “sees”. Surface views are useful for showing binding sites, pockets and how two molecules fit together.
Antibody structure diagram
A labeled diagram of an antibody’s parts: the heavy and light chains, the antigen-binding Fab arms, the Fc stem and the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) that do the binding. It’s the starting point for explaining any antibody therapy.
Antibody format diagram
A set of illustrations comparing antibody formats such as monoclonal antibodies, bispecifics, scFvs, nanobodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). A consistent format set lets a company show its modality, or a whole pipeline of modalities, in one visual language.
Protein domain diagram
A linear map of a protein showing its functional domains in order along the sequence, often with mutation or modification sites marked. Domain diagrams are a clean way to explain what part of a protein a therapy targets.
Devices, instruments and products
Technical line drawing
A precise outline drawing of an instrument or device, close to an engineering drawing but cleaned up for communication. Line drawings work well in documentation, patent-style figures and minimal brand systems, and they’re often the first step before a full 3D render.
Exploded view
An illustration that separates a device into its components, spaced apart along their assembly lines, so viewers can see what’s inside and how the parts fit together. Exploded views are a strong way to show engineering depth without a wall of specifications.
Photoreal 3D render
A realistic 3D image of a product or instrument, rendered from a model rather than photographed. Renders let you show a product before it’s manufactured, in any setting or angle, and keep every image consistent. For Invetech, we took instruments from line drawing to finished render.
Systems, data and communication
Scientific icon set
A family of simple, consistent icons for scientific concepts: cells, molecules, assays, instruments, modalities. An icon set keeps websites, decks and diagrams visually unified, and it’s far faster than drawing a new symbol every time.
Pipeline chart
The chart biotechs use to show each program’s progress from discovery through preclinical and clinical phases. It’s a data visualization rather than an illustration, but it’s one of the most-viewed graphics on any biotech website, so it should match the rest of the visual system.
Scientific poster
A large-format summary of research for conferences, usually combining figures, data and short text blocks. Good poster design leads the eye through the story in a minute or two, because that’s often all the time a passer-by gives it.
Illustration style guide
A short set of rules for how your company’s scientific visuals look: colors, line weights, rendering style, how cells and molecules are drawn. A style guide keeps figures consistent when they’re made by different people over years, and it’s what turns a pile of images into a recognizable visual language.
Scientific accuracy review
The step where a subject-matter expert checks a figure for accuracy before it’s published: correct structures, proportions, labels and claims. Build this into the timeline. It’s much easier to fix a sketch than a finished render.
Need one of these?
We create MoA figures, platform diagrams, molecular visuals, device renders and complete illustration libraries for biotech, medtech and cleantech teams. See our scientific illustration work or start a project.