Infrasound
Wired magazine, San Francisco, California, 2006
Description
It’s hard to go wrong when you start out with a great photograph. Many of Robyn Twomey’s shots of our subject, Milton Garces, were outstanding, but this particular shot of Milton out on the beach holding up a sensing device at dusk clearly captured the spirit of the story. It didn’t hurt that Milton was a total ham for the camera.
We hired the services of Matt Pyke, formerly of Designers Republic, to help us visualize what we couldn’t actually see in the photograph. We wanted to bring to life the notion of sound waves in a way that complemented the story yet didn’t overpower the photography. We tried various forms of linework and many color-palette changes before we settled on the final opening approach. The thought was to bring full-spectrum color into play since Infrasound is farther reaching than traditional sound. To increase the dramatic effect, we worked the colors so that they blended both horizontally and vertically, resolving across the gutter into shades of cyan, coalescing and then fading just before the instrument, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two.
Juror Notes
“Deft handling of impactful graphics. The idea boosted the story to heights it otherwise would not have seen.”
“Less is just enough.”
Credits
- Design firm
- Wired magazine
- Creative director
- Scott Dadich
- Art director
- Jeremy LaCroix
- Designers
- Scott Dadich, Jeremy LaCroix
- Illustrator
- Matt Pyke
- Photographer
- Robyn Twomey
- Picture editor
- Carolyn Rauch
- Client
- Wired