Vaccinations, burnout, and GameStop mania – these are the best illustrations from Insider in 2021

INSIDERDec 28, 2021, 01:09 IST

Glenn Harvey for Insider; Skye Gould/Insider; Samantha Lee/Insider

Throughout this unprecedented year, Insider created hundreds of illustrations for our biggest stories.
We covered rich people gaming the vaccine system, remote workers flocking to new areas, and the ups and downs of the US economy.

NEWS AND POLITICS

The US economy is barreling toward a boom — and it's going to be bigger, faster, and weirder than you expect

Bolstered by three rounds of stimulus checks, US consumers are spending more.Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images; Samantha Lee/Insider

The Federal Reserve can't rescue America's economy this time.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

The GameStop mania driven by Reddit traders isn't simple market trolling. It's a populist movement threatening to disrupt the financial system to a degree Occupy Wall Street only dreamed of.

iStock; John Moore/Getty; Skye Gould/Insider

The GameStop mania driven by Reddit traders isn't simple market trolling. It's a populist movement threatening to disrupt the financial system to a degree Occupy Wall Street only dreamed of.

Democrats are at risk of losing what should be a sure bet for them: millennial and Gen Z voters.

Insider

Some of the same members of Congress pushing to restrict cigarettes and vapes are quietly investing in tobacco giants.

iStock; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

A California pastor who believes ventilators are killing people is holding massive, mask-free services — and he refuses to shut down.

Samantha Lee/Insider

A woman featured on YouTube star David Dobrik's channel says she was raped by a Vlog Squad member in 2018 the night they filmed a video about group sex.

Kevin Mazur/AMA2020/Getty Images for dcp; Araya Diaz/Getty Images for Mashup LA; Samantha Lee/Insider

Social media was once a neutral battleground. Now, both Republicans and Democrats have demonized them to drive political agendas.

Google; Twitter; Instagram; Facebook; Samantha Lee/Insider

'That's not ByteStyles!': How TikTok employees are rewarded and reprimanded based on parent company ByteDance's 6 culture principles.

TikTok; Samantha Lee/Insider

Some TikTok influencers who lived at Clubhouse content mansions say the startup's CEO bullied talent, made misogynistic comments, and treated their personal lives like 'a game'.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

Some TikTok influencers who lived at Clubhouse content mansions say the startup's CEO bullied talent, made misogynistic comments, and treated their personal lives like 'a game'.

Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams.

Bettmann/Contributor; Samantha Lee/Insider

Period apps are a privacy nightmare – should you still use them? An expert explains the risks.

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

When you take your laptop to Apple's Genius Bar, it likely ends up getting repaired at a 'sweatshop' in Texas.

Apple; CSAT Solutions; Samantha Lee/Insider

How to keep scammers from infiltrating your text messages and making a fortune.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

The future of the psychedelics industry hinges on patents. Whoever wins could make billions.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

Down with venture: Why millennial entrepreneurs are embracing the sweaty-startup movement.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

The US has one of the highest rates of depression in the world. The solution? Give people money.

Samantha Lee/Insider

From losing 75% of the profits to becoming a millionaire, startup employees discuss selling shares on 'secondary' markets.

Samantha Lee/Insider

'Boomerang employees' who quit during the pandemic are starting to ask for their old jobs back.

Anthony Klotz coined the phrase The Great Resignation. His next prediction: a wave of quitters returning to their previous employers.Samantha Lee/Insider

It's time to give white-collar perks to traditionally blue-collar jobs.

Samantha Lee/Insider

I'm quitting my job this week without another one lined up. Here's my advice to my fellow millennials looking to make the leap.

Americans are fleeing their jobs in record numbers. But for millennials, the Great Resignation could contain a generational disaster in the making.Samantha Lee/Insider

Employers are ordering everyone back to the office. Employees want to create their own schedules. Guess who's winning.

Many companies want to return to an office-only world. But work from home is spreading faster than anyone predicted.Marianne Ayala/Insider

If work from home is making you depressed, you're not alone. But a law from the Great Depression can fix it.

Apple; Zoom; Slack; Samantha Lee/Insider

Employers are being forced to make salaries public — and that's good news for your paycheck.

Workers were long forced to negotiate their salaries in the dark. But that's changing, thanks to a wave of new laws sweeping the country.Samantha Lee/Insider

How to sell the vaccine to the unvaccinated, according to 6 advertising executives who are pros at persuasion.

Samantha Lee/Insider

Some rich people are gaming the system to get COVID-19 vaccines using hefty donations and cozy relationships with CEOs.

Samantha Lee/Insider

One year or 5? Doctors and drug companies increasingly disagree about when we'll need COVID-19 booster shots.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

3 reasons to be optimistic about this summer, according to 18 doctors and scientists.

Samantha Lee/Insider

A COVID-19 expert shares his simple sports analogy to explain why vaccines work against variants.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

Stop acting like you're invincible just because you're vaccinated — think of your vaccine like a seatbelt.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

How a US government program advocated using nuclear explosions for construction, farming radioactive crops, and blasting holes in the moon.

U.S. Department of Energy; Los Alamos National Laboratory; U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration; Atomic Energy Commission; Samantha Lee/Insider

Imperfect Foods is struggling to keep customers and its eco-friendly mission, former employees say. Here's how the $700-million startup that promised to fight food waste lost its way.

Imperfect Foods; Samantha Lee/Insider

Imperfect Foods is struggling to keep customers and its eco-friendly mission, former employees say. Here's how the $700-million startup that promised to fight food waste lost its way.

The companies polluting the planet have spent millions to make you think carpooling and recycling will save us.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

People are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, it's forcing many to stay inside.

Marianne Ayala/Insider

Invasion of the remote workers! How 'digital nomads' are ruining tropical paradises

Glenn Harvey for Insider

New satellite images show the Russian military's alarming buildup along the Ukrainian border

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Vaccinations, burnout, and GameStop mania – these are the best illustrations from Insider in 2021

The US economy is barreling toward a boom — and it's going to be bigger, faster, and weirder than you expect

The Federal Reserve can't rescue America's economy this time.

The GameStop mania driven by Reddit traders isn't simple market trolling. It's a populist movement threatening to disrupt the financial system to a degree Occupy Wall Street only dreamed of.

Democrats are at risk of losing what should be a sure bet for them: millennial and Gen Z voters.

Some of the same members of Congress pushing to restrict cigarettes and vapes are quietly investing in tobacco giants.

A California pastor who believes ventilators are killing people is holding massive, mask-free services — and he refuses to shut down.

A woman featured on YouTube star David Dobrik's channel says she was raped by a Vlog Squad member in 2018 the night they filmed a video about group sex.

Social media was once a neutral battleground. Now, both Republicans and Democrats have demonized them to drive political agendas.

'That's not ByteStyles!': How TikTok employees are rewarded and reprimanded based on parent company ByteDance's 6 culture principles.

Some TikTok influencers who lived at Clubhouse content mansions say the startup's CEO bullied talent, made misogynistic comments, and treated their personal lives like 'a game'.

Gaia was a wildly popular yoga brand. Now it's a publicly traded Netflix rival pushing conspiracy theories while employees fear the CEO is invading their dreams.

Period apps are a privacy nightmare – should you still use them? An expert explains the risks.

When you take your laptop to Apple's Genius Bar, it likely ends up getting repaired at a 'sweatshop' in Texas.

How to keep scammers from infiltrating your text messages and making a fortune.

The future of the psychedelics industry hinges on patents. Whoever wins could make billions.

Down with venture: Why millennial entrepreneurs are embracing the sweaty-startup movement.

The US has one of the highest rates of depression in the world. The solution? Give people money.

From losing 75% of the profits to becoming a millionaire, startup employees discuss selling shares on 'secondary' markets.

'Boomerang employees' who quit during the pandemic are starting to ask for their old jobs back.

It's time to give white-collar perks to traditionally blue-collar jobs.

I'm quitting my job this week without another one lined up. Here's my advice to my fellow millennials looking to make the leap.

Employers are ordering everyone back to the office. Employees want to create their own schedules. Guess who's winning.

If work from home is making you depressed, you're not alone. But a law from the Great Depression can fix it.

Employers are being forced to make salaries public — and that's good news for your paycheck.

How to sell the vaccine to the unvaccinated, according to 6 advertising executives who are pros at persuasion.

Some rich people are gaming the system to get COVID-19 vaccines using hefty donations and cozy relationships with CEOs.

One year or 5? Doctors and drug companies increasingly disagree about when we'll need COVID-19 booster shots.

3 reasons to be optimistic about this summer, according to 18 doctors and scientists.

A COVID-19 expert shares his simple sports analogy to explain why vaccines work against variants.

Stop acting like you're invincible just because you're vaccinated — think of your vaccine like a seatbelt.

How a US government program advocated using nuclear explosions for construction, farming radioactive crops, and blasting holes in the moon.

Imperfect Foods is struggling to keep customers and its eco-friendly mission, former employees say. Here's how the $700-million startup that promised to fight food waste lost its way.

The companies polluting the planet have spent millions to make you think carpooling and recycling will save us.

People are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, it's forcing many to stay inside.

Invasion of the remote workers! How 'digital nomads' are ruining tropical paradises