Editorial design for a long-form feature profiling Carla Dove and her team of avian detectives who study the remains from bird and airplane collisions in a specialized Smithsonian lab in order to prevent future catastrophes.

Inspired by minute details in the laboratory filing system and the bird remains known as “snarge,” the visual language combines clean structure and minimal photography with textured typography. The monospaced slab serif type is a nod to the scientific roots of the story, while the inked type and splattered ink blots reference the gritty nature of the bird samples.