• US$500

• 20 designs

• 6 designers

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Graphic Design Brief

We are the authors of a recently accepted article to the journal Nature Methods and would like to submit an illustration to be considered for the cover that will highlight our work. In the paper, we describe a robotic, liquid dispensing system that is used to apply a protein sample to small, circular discs known as “grids” that are then frozen and later examined with an electron microscope. The purpose of the examination of the frozen sample is to see how the protein molecules on the grid look in 3D. The grid is frozen so molecules can be imaged sitting still.

The key development we report in the paper, however, is not the dispensing system (named Spotiton: i.e. “SPOTting” “IT”, the protein sample, “ON” the grid) itself, rather a new function it is able to perform, namely: “time-resolved Cryo-electron microscopy” in which early interactions between protein molecules are observed. Our system makes this possible by dispensing very small droplets of two different protein samples that mix together once they land on the grid. Since the droplets dispensed are very small (similar to ink droplets from an inkjet printer) and the system moves very fast, the mixing happens very fast and we are able to freeze protein molecules very soon after they have touched each other and interacted.

One last thing: the sample discs are called ‘grids’ because in fact, they are little circle cutouts of metal mesh (like in a screen door). However, unlike the smooth, criss-crossing metal wire on a screen door, the wire making up the mesh on our grids is covered in what looks like a lawn, but instead of grass, our ‘lawn’ is actually little spikes (we call them “nanowires”) that we grow from copper. These nanowires soak up the liquid protein sample onto the grid, sort of how a sponge is able to soak up water.

I have uploaded a PDF file showing a few past journal covers (to give an idea of the journal’s style) and a rough sketch that might be helpful to guide your design. Key aspects of the sketch that we would like incorporated into the design are 1) the two sample dispensers releasing droplets of two different samples, 2) fast motion, 3) the grid and the nanowires, 4) 2 different molecules both separate and interacting on the grid. Also in the PDF are relevant images, including the sample dispensers, a grid positioned to be sprayed on by the dispensers, a standard grid, and zoom in's of a grid that is covered in nanowires.

I’ve also uploaded a high speed video of the grid (held by tweezers) passing the dispensers. This is the specific action we would like depicted.

We would be happy to clarify any details of the Spotiton system or our design request as needed. Please email anytime. Thank you for your interest in our project!

Target Market(s)

Broad scientific community

Industry/Entity Type

Medical And Science

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Look and feel

Each slider illustrates characteristics of the customer's brand and the style your logo design should communicate.

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Requirements

Must have

• A grid with liquid
  A dual-nozzle
  Droplets flying
  Molecules representing protein samples
  3D rendering

Nice to have

• A stopwatch or a digital time indicator in ms to show connection to "time"
  Robotics-themed background (as in image)

Should not have

• Robotics-themed image used as the background directly. It is only for inspiration.
  2D images

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Files

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