High-Level Project Summary
I designed an electronic (still print-friendly) magazine about black holes. The main approach is modern and eye-catching design. The main goal of my project is to raise awareness of science in the mass consumer society, which, in my opinion, can now only be achieved with a bright and interesting typography design.Choosing the challenge “Turning stem into steam” was fundamental for my project. In thisway, science becomes art; the two spheres are intertwined in order to increase the effectiveness of each other.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
My project is a prototype of a modern science magazine. First, my goal was to create an up-to-date and trendy design. It seems to me that many websites or scientific publications neglect the power of graphic design, while an entertaining design can really grab people's attention, at least by creating a first impression. "Meet on clothes" - this is the rationale for my project.
I liked this year's motto “Make space”. In my design, I took it as a basis and added more space between the symbols and the text. The minimalist trend did play a big role, but initially I wanted to create a simple design that does not distract from the scientific topic.
Second, I really did not want the graphic component to prevail over the semantic one, so half the time it took to create the project was to write a reasonable and up-to-date text about black holes.
Why black holes? This is probably the most popular topic in science fiction about space, so showing them from a scientific point of view (still in simple language, for a mass reader) and dispelling some myths about black holes seems to be a good idea.
Space Agency Data
For the most part I used data and images of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
As a "black hole hunter", Chandra was the best inspiration for my black hole project.
I was fascinated by studying Chandra observatory images. This was, honestly, the first time I visited the space satellite gallery, and I was very interested when comparing X-ray, radio, and optical images, and how they are then combined into a composite image. I even added these variations of data into my project.
Also very helpful were articles from the website about new discoveries and explaining the basic concepts of black holes.
Hackathon Journey
It is my first hackathon and it was a lot of fun!
I decided to work on my own because I wanted to make unique and personal designs, and my idea just did not require having a team.
I did work as a freelance graphic designer for two months, but my project here is the first time I am creating a book\magazine layout. So, it was very interesting and inspiring to work on a completely new product for me. Although it is a huge challenge to create so many designs in a short time, I think I have done my best.
A big problem for me was how to present my magazine online, and my decision is a kinda interactive ebook with turning pages, looks cool! I thought about it at the beginning of the space apps but did not know how to create it. As a result, a new fun experience. Much easier than I expected.
References
Software:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
flippingbook.com
Text resources:
Chandra X-ray Center - https://chandra.harvard.edu/blackhole/
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-002
Images:
Chandra X-ray Center Photo Album - https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/
Event Horizon Telescope - https://eventhorizontelescope.org/
https://unsplash.com/photos/G9i_plbfDgk
Tags
#design #blackhole #art #astrophysics