As the graphic design intern for the Earth Science Division (SG) at the NASA Ames Research Center, a critical genre of my work was devoted to communicating scientific principles and raising public awareness of SG's numerous research topics, like airborne, climate, fire, and water science. This manifested in designs for both digital and print distribution, including editable fact sheets, infographics, eye-catching illustrations, and banners.
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Suite, Procreate on iPad
Communication Materials
From prominent politicians to STEM content creators, fact sheets detailing the essential research subjects and findings of the many initiatives hosted on-site are distributed to the private guests of the NASA Ames Research Center. Given this high level of visibility, it was critical to update their design. I created seven templates (hosted in Microsoft Powerpoint for maximum ease of use and further customization) and various design elements (header, footer, and section backgrounds) for scientists to reformat their content.
A main goal of the redesign campaign was to make the fact sheets appear as more obviously NASA. I was able to accomplish this by integrating the iconic NASA red "swoosh" into the header and footer of the template, alongside blue strips to fully recall the logo's color scheme. All this was accomplished within the strict guidelines mandating the placement of items like the NASA logo, organization name, and contact information.
For a less exclusive audience, the Earth Science Division also needed banners to advertise their presence at conferences, fairs, and other public-facing events. For these designs, I was asked to conceptualize both a horizontal and vertical layout, to incorporate allusions to all nine research topics of SG, and to overall stick to a vibrant, cool-toned color scheme. Finally, the approved designs were adapted into both "light" and "dark mode."
A more illustration-dependent project was creating an infographic depicting the fire life cycle. Located in Northern California, NASA Ames is particularly invested in fire science, and in response to the increasingly devastating wildfire crisis afflicting the United States, recently launched the FireSense project to measurably improve wildland fire management. Because each stage of the fire life cycle demands a specific prevention or containment response, this framework is commonly presented in FireSense documents.
Drawn on Procreate and then refined in Adobe Illustrator, this illustration was designed to capture the four major stages of the fire life cycle and their defining characteristics in a way that would easily allow for its integration into a variety of more specific presentation topics, like air quality, ecological changes, or wildfire-fighting aircraft. This versatility was ensured by including copious details with optional labels. This way, less relevant details can remain background elements, while those with more relevance can be pointed to. Customizable for any presentation!
The last set of designs, a pair of quantum sensing graphics that were made almost entirely from scratch in Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator, were made to head future articles on quantum sensing research that NASA is increasingly pivoting towards. Another practice in visualizing abstract phenomena, these depict (1) connected, spherical qubits overlayed with real quantum sensing equations [as collected by me, approved by leading NASA scientists, and documented here] and (2) the contrast between binary encoding, which assigns one value or another, to the infinitely more complex system of entangled qubits. A mystical, high-tech feel was critical to sell a vision of a scientific phenomenon that is completely fascinating, but barely understood.
A more specific subset of my designs was geared specifically towards mission logos. These were meticulously crafted through an iterative process that cycled through preliminary interviews to understand the essential goals and themes of the mission, developing multiple sketches for further revision, follow-up meetings to collect feedback, and subsequent adjustments. With individual needs, specifications, and styles, each logo was a completely different project from the next!
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Procreate on iPad
Mission Logos
Nighthawk was a relatively simple logo to brainstorm, as the key visual elements are conveniently communicated through the mission's name: "night," and "hawk." A ground-breaking endeavor that will use the infrared spectrum at night to satellite-image luminescence like moonlight and firelight, Nighthawk was looking for a simple emblem that could start shaping their visual identity in the beginning stages of its development. After using themes like the moon, hawk, satellite, and rainbow palette of the infrared spectrum to develop some sketches, the more symbolic drawing of a hawk, silhouetted against the moon with a twinkling star (in reference to the stars, found in abundance, on NASA's iconic meatball logo) for an eye, quickly became the favorite -- with, of course, some revisions. I was asked to give the hawk's wings the appearance of fire, further referencing the type of data the mission would collect, and to implement a style inspired by the athletic mascot of the partnering university.
NEX, short for NASA Earth Exchange, is a project that connects an international community of researchers to NASA datasets and advanced supercomputing facilities. Unlike Nighthawk, they were seeking a contemporary refresh of their previous logo. Highlighting the global, technological, and collaborative aspects of the NEX goal was the main priority, but it was also important to facilitate effortless adaptability as NEX branched into more specific initiatives, like GeoNEX, a specific effort to monitor the Earth using a new fleet of geostationary satellite sensors.
