Graphics For Plastics: Visualizing Sustainable Solutions
No matter what, no one was ever cuter than Baby Huey. A baby Northern Elephant Seal at the Marine Mammal Care Center with a big blubbery body and an even bigger personality, he made sure he was the center of attention at every visitation day, striking his iconic crescent moon shaped pose or (very) loudly clamoring for recognition with his baby barks. As an educational volunteer, I would sit by his pen often, sketching each pose and trying to capture his round, uncomprehending eyes before they would be released into the wild and lost to me forever.
To love the ocean is to love it in many forms, at least according to my experience. It’s the great connector between my passion for both art and science, informing the subjects of many of my paintings and animations and simultaneously leading me down the path of studying marine science. It’s not surprising, therefore, that my time at USC has led me to a myriad of opportunities that combine both art and science, with Wrigley’s Environmental Communications Internship being no exception.
My name is Gwenan Walker, and as an animation major with minors in marine biology and visual narrative art, my internship with mentor Dr. Megan Fieser was the perfect opportunity to challenge myself and ask the deep questions like, “did I ever really understand chemistry at all, or was I just kidding myself?” The Fieser Lab’s mission is to both develop molecular catalysts that break down usually non-degradable materials (such as plastics) in a sustainable way, and create more degradable plastics that can hopefully be an alternative to current commercially used plastics. As the lab’s communications intern, I was responsible for creating any media that the lab required, whether that be cover art and table of contents graphics for papers, graphics for the Fieser Lab website, or even the T-shirt designs for their annual beach cleanup.
While the expression “fake it till you make it” probably isn’t the best advice to offer in this context, I definitely felt like more of a covert double agent than a member of the laboratory at first. The beginning of my internship was filled with dozens of random fact checks on Wikipedia (know what an aromatic ring is? Me neither.), re-reading sentences in student’s papers an embarrassing amount (I think I counted 6 once) and a smile of reassurance with nods of understanding (when I truly did not understand). However, it’s a bit ironic that, while I came into my internship with a belief that I understood the importance of scientific communication, I got to experience its importance firsthand through the learning curve the lab had to offer. Chemical reactions became squishy blob-like creatures as I redesigned them for my educational video, and plastic lizards the Evil Queen of Snow White. To be able to visualize or have a visual aid of a confusing subject helps to put it in a brand new perspective, aiding in turning a complex chemical reaction into an engaging story. This very storytelling capability that scientific communication has was also my favorite component of the internship by far; in a field that has always been presented to me from a more cold and factual standpoint, the creative range that I’ve been shown through this internship that visualization science and scientific illustration has to offer is arguably exciting for both artists and scientists alike. This collaboration between both fields was also the most surprising aspect of my internship experience; while working virtually is often a godsend for more introverted people like me, I think I would have rapidly lost my mind if not for the kindness and collaboration that I was able to have with all members of the Fieser Lab that I had the pleasure of working with. It was truly amazing to be able to work with such talented individuals and take part in their research, and such opportunities for collaboration make me excited for potential work in scientific illustration in the future.
