C(h)oral Music Journal Cover

The goal of this project was to create a mock editorial journal cover that incorporates visual metaphors to effectively communicate a key message about a self-chosen research article in a compact way.

The scientific article I chose details how different noises are produced in coral reefs by its inhabitants and corals themselves, varying in frequency and volume depending on the reef’s health status. Experiments have shown that some reef fish can hear and preferentially migrate towards playback sounds of healthy reefs. This reveals a novel tool that can be integrated with coral reef conservation efforts.

Client: Prof. Marc Dryer
Media: Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Format: 8.5X11” magazine cover
Audience: Researchers & scientists
Date: April 2021

Process work

Thumbnails

The treatment idea for this cover was to use a music box with a feed-in music sheet to represent the playback of healthy coral reef sounds. The position of the fishes directed towards the music sheet represents the attraction of fish towards the coral reef “music”.

At this stage, I experimented with different base shapes of the music box (square and cylinder) and the direction of the music paper. The cylinder shape was chosen for the base, as it provided a more organic feeling.

Additional Thumbnails

I created some rough maquettes in Maya to explore different camera angles and reference the spatial relationships between the various music box elements.

Comprehensive

I changed the orientation of the music paper to be directed towards the top right corner, making better use of the empty space to the right of the Nature wordmark.