A Visual Guide to How Babies Are Made

For those of us who were always confused by the concepts behind human reproduction—I mean, I’m pretty sure it involves bees and birds, and one of the birds is a stork—a little visual aid can be a very helpful thing. And while over the years, I’ve gradually sussed out the basics of how the whole baby process gets started, I still always get lost somewhere in between “clump of rapidly dividing cells” and “cooing bundle of joy.” So it was a real revelation to come across this amazing, animated infographic from designer and science-person Eleanor Lutz, who lays out the minute steps of human embryo and fetus development in a single, spiral-shaped GIF.

Lutz, who works in design, but studied molecular biology, incorporated an impressive 396 sketches into the piece. And her other designs are just as great— check out this Visual Compendium of Glowing Creatures or her deconstruction of bird and insect wing movements. Every few weeks Lutz posts a new infographic on her site, Tabletop Whale.