Project 2

SCI: Question Everything

Style Frames

Illustration

Concept

“Trust your Gut”
Harmful gut bacteria from an unhealthy diet and lifestyle can negatively impact our mental health. Scientists continue to uncover new insights into the gut-brain connection noting that keeping one healthy will benefit the other. Our gut microbiome can influence everything from PTSD to brain inflammation to depression to schizophrenia. Through this campaign with The Science Channel, our visual narrative brings light on how a seemingly harmless gut bacteria can drastically transform one’s life and encourages the viewers “Question Everything”.

Role

Storyboard

Tool

Photoshop, Procreate

Collaborators

Ella Lee

Visual Approach ↴

Strategy

In order to communicate the complex and heavy topic of mental health issues related to gut health, we took a surrealist approach by illustrating the distorted reality of our main character who is going through a hallucination episode. Giving the sequence a dream/nightmare-like quality, we used a tight composition to give a claustrophobic and trapped feeling.

Reference Images

Style Board

We referenced visuals of pathogens like bacteria, and other alien-like microorganisms to build grotesque yet eye catching imagery. We also were inspired by surrealist and psychedelic art styles. Adding to the anxiety of the sequence, we opted for a vibrant and saturated color palette to emphasize the hallucinations and give the sequence a disconnected feeling.

Process ↴

Word Map

Storyboard

Initial Storyboards and Sketches

Character Research

For character research, we looked into our own lives for inspiration and exaggerated for the story. I was working on this project when I took 6 classes at ArtCenter, highly stressed, lived alone, and ate fast food almost every day with little sleep. We felt like this was a pretty relatable experience to many ArtCenter students and used our combined experiences to display how the seemingly small sacrifices we make physically can impact mental health long term.