iGEM Team Stanford-Brown-RISD Branding
As a member of the Stanford-Brown-RISD iGEM Team working at the NASA Ames Research Center this Summer 2018, I worked as the team's Design Lead.
Our team's research is focused on how to use Mycelium – the vegetative root of fungus – to essentially grow a habitat on Mars for future human and space exploration. Our team includes students from a variety of backgrounds, majoring in fields ranging from Graphic Design & Apparel Design all the way to Bioengineering and Neuroscience.
This opportunity not only allowed me to work in a laboratory and develop and understand a new material, but also enabled me to learn how to design and convey scientific information in an approachable and understandable manner. Deliverables for the team include our logo, website, presentation, posters, physical model, team sweatshirts, and the like.
Team Logo & Overall Brand
The team logo above was inspired by NASA's Mission Patches that are specifically designed for various space missions. The logo is thus able to be associated with NASA and their visual design language.
Project Poster
The Poster above (printed 4ft x 4ft) drew from the logo's design language, and was presented during tech & science showcases in Mountain View, CA, to further explain our project and goals to the public. The poster was also used in the final International iGEM Jamboree on October 25 – 28, 2018.
Presentation
Above is an excerpt from our Presentation that we will be using for our team's presentation in the upcoming international iGEM Jamboree. This has given me the opportunity to investigate how to tell a story with science, as well as how to distill information to be understandable and engaging.
Team Wiki
The wiki is still in progress, and will be updated in the coming weeks.
Mycelium grows in a very unique and beautiful way; its growth patterns have been heavily studied and documented in our lab. This inspired me to use the patterns of mycelium growth as an animated element on the wiki. It is used to either animate titles of pages, or add a graphic element to otherwise dull pages. Below are some initial studies of the mycelial growth animations, as well as actual images from the lab of our mycelium samples (final photo is a microscopic image) that inspired this graphic.
Team Sweatshirts
Our team sweatshirts also make a nod to NASA's Mission Patches and apparel designs, in that our logo takes the form of a patch that is directly embroidered on the sweater, with the NASA Patch similarly sewn on the other sleeve.
