Brain mapping Typography Designs
Concept origination
My fascination inspired this project with medicine, science, history and biology. Being fascinated by the human body, especially the mind, I wanted to delve deeper into the human brain. By understanding mapping techniques and technologies, I wanted to know if there were ways to map the human mind. After thoroughly investigating different aspects of brain mapping, I started thinking about brain scans and wondered if there was a correlation. They have everything to do with maps, which took me down a journey through brain mapping techniques. This led me to develop my concept of Brain mapping; the idea was to use typography and design to create a series of posters. I began with doodling in illustrator, sketching my concepts digitally most of the time and documenting the evolution of my design and conceptual processing. I gathered inspiration from online and used my love for Brutalism design to create the layouts for my posters. I wanted to keep continuity throughout my design so that everything flowed seamlessly. I started by showing different techniques per their inspired scans and maps and using many colours. I was not too fond of the lack of unity, balance and harmony in my design and refined my colours to green, black and white, which transformed the posters into vivid eye-capturing visuals.
Design Development
Staying within my Brutalist style, I used specific typefaces, shapes, patterns and illustrations. Lines throughout the designs create a flow and a directional path for the viewer to follow, a crucial element of my visual hierarchy. Geometric shapes, like rectangles and lines, unified the text and graphic elements and created a visual flow. These designs were made to inform viewers of the techniques used to map the human brain, their importance in medicine, psychology, science, and the process or way each works. The processes became my inspiration for my main typographic elements on pages 2-8, and by using different typography techniques, I have taught myself over time.
typographic choice and detailing
The idea was to represent the process through an effect on each element. The following topics were chosen and represented as follows: MRI's work by using a process of blood flow, CAT's work through Xrays, EEG's work using brain waves, MEG's work using Magnetic Fields, FNIR's work using optic sensors, and PET's work using Radiation. All these techniques work in completely different ways and create maps that record specific data per the technique used, and this allowed me to create a unique type of effect to create variation in my designs. I used the ideas of the way these scans work to formulate a connection to a visual effect. Each technique has a different inspiration linking it to its process (Blood flow: movement and liquid, XRAY: x-ray effect including bones to represent the idea, Brain waves: pulses and currents, Magnetic: pulling motion and metal fibres, Optical Sensors: Illusions and levels of different heights, and Radioactive: toxic Nuclear Radiation. Using Brutalist fonts for my Headings, page numbers, and smaller text created design variation without losing unity. The continuation of 4 simple typefaces (Neostar, Vertigo BLK, Techno at dusk, and Helvetica) throughout the content posters/pages creates balance and harmony.
Layout/grid system
The layout was intended to be simple yet professionally executed, using guides to ensure accurate spacing, flow visual hierarchy and allow for negative space. I used dual columns to separate smaller important information and a clear and easy-to-read font and flow choice. Using grids, guides, and margins ensured accuracy with spacing and layout.
media/material choices
Graphic elements such as the skull and brain on the cover page were made in photoshop. The subtle detailing on the pages was inspired by an actual CT scan and continuously represents brain mapping. I incorporated 2d and 3d designs to create differentiation on each page and effectively represent my desired effects. Using Black for backgrounds creates harmony, balance, contrast and space throughout the designs, linking them. Green typographic elements were chosen as stand-out elements o pages 2-8 to draw attention to the posters. The typographic elements being the biggest was a choice to be effective in capturing the attention of all age audiences, as these artworks are easy to read and understand words which will encourage the viewer to read further to know more. The body text, however, is best suited for ages 14 and up due to the intensity of the information and the way I have written my information. The colour choices were intended to draw in all audiences, as black, white and green are non-gender-based colours that appeal to all ages.
What is Brain Mapping?
Brain mapping refers to a group of neuroscience procedures that include mapping (biological) variables or attributes onto spatial representations of the brain, culminating in mappings. Doctors and neuroscientists employ it to analyse brainwave neuron signals (Pouratian, 2022). Neurons are cells in the brain that send and receive messages. A brain map, which uses impulses to build a visual representation of neural activity for examination, depicts the signal-transmission system. Mapping the brain includes all neuroimaging (Pouratian, 2022).
As a more advanced type of neuroimaging, brain mapping produces brain imaging that is augmented either by results of secondary (imaging or non-imaging) data processing or analysis, including such maps that project (measurements of) behaviour onto various regions of the brain. One such map, a connectogram, illustrates cortical regions organised in a ring according to lobes (Nasr, 2014). Several typical neurological metrics, like cortical thickness or tortuosity, are represented by overlapping circles inside the ring. The interconnections between cortical areas are shown by lines depicting white matter fibres in the middle of such circles, weighted by partial anisotropy and connectivity strength (Pouratian, 2022).
