Short version: the artwork in Drop 1 was generated with AI. Drop 2 is being illustrated by a human artist, who will be credited on every sticker. That's decided, and it doesn't depend on how Drop 1 sells.
Longer version. Reference Range started in a clinic. I'm a hematologist-oncologist, and I started giving my adult patients a sticker after their bone marrow biopsy. It was a hit. So I made a few more, for radiation, for iron infusions, for the glucose drink, and put them online to see if anyone outside my clinic wanted them.
I'm a doctor, not a designer. To get the idea out the door I used AI image tools for the first set, and I said so in the launch video. A lot of people, rightly, told me that wasn't good enough: if the idea is worth making, it's worth paying an artist to make it. I agree.
What's happening now. I'm reviewing the illustrators people recommended and will announce who I'm working with. Drop 2 will be human-illustrated, with the artist's name on the packaging and on this page. Drop 1 stays available in the meantime, labeled honestly, so nobody buys one thinking it's something it isn't.
If you're an illustrator who'd like to be considered, or you want to recommend one, email hello@reference-range.com.
Thank you for the pushback. It was right.
Kelly Casteel, MD
Reference Range