Design Inspiration
Oops, I did an art! 😂 I must be missing having a creative outlet because I had so much fun painting and designing (and procrastinating, let’s be honest) to make the imagery you see on the back of the cards. If you’re into design, read on for more detail on the influences behind the look and feel of this deck.
Litmus papers
The first (and pretty obvious) design inspiration is litmus papers. The ones used in science to determine whether a solution is basic or acidic. (Also, how fun to sneak in yet another call-out to The Good Place — “Ya basic!”) The texture and bleed of these papers when used is so evocative of watercolour paintings, it felt like a great starting point to form the colour palette and art direction for the artworks.
Mid-century modernism
Other design ideas I drew on are the bold geographic shapes of mid-century modernism. These shapes speak to me of rationalism and an era of scientific optimism. I’m reminded of the technological explosions of the space race, and putting human-kind on the moon. (This could be a totally fabricated nostalgic interpretation of that era, to be fair). I wanted to point to an optimistic vision of the future while acknowledging the challenges and threats we’re experiencing at this moment in time.
Landscape and place
Making this project in Naarm / Melbourne, I felt it was appropriate to pull some design ideas from the local landscape. It’s a nice way to ground the work in place, and not try and divorce it from its context, so to speak. Specifically, you’ll see shapes in the design which call to eucalyptus leaves, and a pretty explicit reference to gumnut blossoms that Aussies will find easy to identify.
Maths & CS
Additionally (pun intended), I was thinking about the beauty and symmetry of mathematics and computation. One pretty explicit design ‘shout-out’ is a reference to category theory, specifically the diagrams used to break-down factors in a number. If you’ve got a few minutes, I highly recommend watching anything from Eugenia Cheng (mathematician and bad-ass). A good one to start with is An unexpected tool for understanding inequality: abstract math.
Conclusion
I gave these elements a millennial twist, keeping the colour palette lighter and more cheerful than the the more sober tones traditionally seen in mid century modernism.
Finally, the case itself is a provocation! Glass and cork materials evoke a science lab, and the shape calls to a test tube. Rectangular cards in the glass cylinder references the square peg / round hole idiom. This serves as a visual reminder of the perfect imperfections of all the systems we work within.