This was an illustration for the Spring edition of forward, the magazine of Iowa State University Foundation.
This cover image was initially to be based on the attempts to control the outbreak of avian flu (as in first sketch above) but later became more focussed on protecting the animal food supply from the effects of the flu. To this end the editors had an image in mind they wanted to use - an ethnically varied team of scientific specialists
I supplied the second sketch above for approval before moving onto the artwork. I wanted it to look quite hard and scientific avoiding anything too soft or cartoon-like. With such a detailed image I elected to use a limited colour palette to create a unified feel.