Every place has a culture, whether it means to or not. Ours we mean.
Culture here isn't a poster or words on a wall. It's how we behave when we do the work: how we treat each other, how we decide, what we hold ourselves to.
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It starts with your place
Place is belonging, and it's the center of everything here.
Three things tell us the culture is working: purpose, passion, and place. When you can see the purpose of the work, and the culture is fueling your passion for it, you feel your place.
Belonging here doesn't mean comfort. It means you belong to something that makes you better and lets you lead. You're known. You're always getting sharper. You're trusted to own the work from wherever you sit.
Because you belong, you become, and that's why coaching sits at the heart of how we work: a coach helps you become, and your place is the ground you become from.
We build that place, we don't just hope for it.
Belonging isn't a feeling we wait around for. We build it four ways. None outranks the others, and the last three are what keep your place sharp, a belonging that pushes you rather than lulls you.
Each has a home in how we're organized.
01
We grow each other
02
We push the craft
03
We deliver for the client
04
We follow through
What we hold ourselves to
Our Fundamentals hold it all together.
Two of our deepest beliefs live right inside these: growth mindset is Praxis, everyday leadership is Resolution.
Six Fundamentals are how we behave everywhere. They are the throughline, and they keep belonging honest.
01
Reveal the Unexpected
We do not ship the obvious answer. We find the one that surprises and holds.
02
Resolution
We own the outcome, not just the deliverable. This is everyday leadership: trusted to own the work from wherever you sit.
03
Interdisciplinary
We get better by working with people who see things differently. The bridge that joins us.
04
Praxis
We raise the bar, then raise it again. Growth mindset made a habit. It keeps belonging from settling into comfort.
05
Catalyst
We accelerate the science. We make reactions happen that would not occur on their own.
06
Understanding for All
Clarity is respect. Complex science made legible is the whole point.
What you can expect us to invest in
Your growth first, each other always, and the community around us.
Your growth, first
Mentorship, continuing education, certifications, and the time to actually master a craft, including support for CMI certification and the programs that move a career forward.
Each other, always
We're highly collaborative and we succeed or fail together, so we protect the trust and the rituals that let real relationships form.
And our community
Board service in our fields, teaching the next generation through workshops and panels, and giving back to keep the good work going.
What the year actually feels like
We like each other, and we keep it that way on purpose.
If you joined us, this is what you'd feel in your first week.
01 / Home Week
Regular time to connect, collaborate, and create together in person.
The whole studio in one building for a week: working sessions, shared meals, and the kind of conversation that does not happen on a call.
02 / Regional retreats
Stepping away to build the relationships that let us do our best work.
A few days somewhere else, making things together with no deliverable at the end of it.
03 / Corporate retreat
Once a year the whole studio stops and looks up.
Strategy, craft and each other, in one room. The photographs stay on the wall afterwards.
04 / Leadership offsites
Leadership gets its own room, away from the work.
Smaller groups, harder questions, and the time to answer them properly.
05 / Leadership workshops
A structured program for the people who lead the work.
Multi-module training run over months rather than an afternoon, and carried back into pods and project teams.
06 / Continuing education
Conferences and classes, brought back to the whole studio.
Whoever goes, everyone learns. What you pick up outside comes back in as a session for the people who could not be there.
07 / Panels and workshops
Outside experts and our own, so everyone keeps getting better.
Sketch nights, craft sessions, guest speakers. Sometimes the panel is a colleague showing what they made on their own time.
08 / Business travel
The work takes us places, and we make the most of them.
Client sites, conferences, partner studios. You see the city you flew to, not only the room you presented in.
09 / Awards
The work gets recognised, and we make a night of it.
AIGA, AMI, the Tellys, Muse, Rx Club, SIGGRAPH. We design our own invitations for the evening.
10 / Mini-golf tournament
A studio tournament, a hand-made trophy, and costumes nobody asked for.
Teams build their own holes. The trophy has a name engraved on it every year, and people care about it more than they will admit.
11 / Trivia and happy hours
Trivia nights and happy hours, on the calendar and off it.
The standing traditions are scheduled. The rest get invented by whoever feels like inventing one.
12 / Spirit week
A week where the Fundamentals stop being words on a wall.
We pick them up and do something with them together: making, printing, competing, wearing the studio on our heads.
13 / Special event outings
When the remote team lands in Seattle, we plan the evening.
Cooking classes, indoor golf, whatever the group is up for. The point is that the people you only see on a call are across the table from you.
14 / Human first
We like each other, not just as colleagues but as people.
Third Thursday group lunches, dinners when we travel for business, an aquarium on a Tuesday. We keep it that way on purpose.
And the things we make for each other
The Cognition Fellows Program
If you're early in your career, this is a launchpad.
A full-time, paid fellowship for emerging designers, writers, and medical illustrators moving into science and health communication. The term is flexible — 6, 9, or 12 months — and you'd work on real projects from day one, with weekly mentorship from studio leadership.
Full-time
Paid
6, 9, or 12 months
Weekly mentorship
A few benefits facts
Up front, before you ask.
5+
weeks paid time off
75%
employee health coverage
2
days a week in office, hybrid working
$2,500+
annual learning budget
40–80
hours of continuing-education support
Resources
Want the fuller story?
Request the Cognition Candidate Pack and we'll email it to you.
01
What Holds Us Together — our culture
02
How We Work — our operating model
03
Benefits at a glance
04
Continuing Education guide
05
Fellows Program one-pager
Request the pack
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Join us
If you care deeply about your craft and about driving progress in health and life sciences, we'd like to meet you.
One role is open now. For anything else, write to us and we will tell you what is coming.