Art conveys more than aesthetics. It can inform, illustrating complex ideas and relationships in ways that are more easily understood than long strings of specialist terms.

1.  6 MINUTE READ
ART AND SCIENCE: INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT
JOINS MATERIALS SCIENCE WITH GRAPHIC
DESIGN

3.  So Youn Kim's submission to the IIID Award competition looked at the creation of ruby-red glass.
By Jennifer Micale
July 07, 2020
Art conveys more than aesthetics. It can inform, illustrating complex ideas and
relationships in ways that are more easily understood than long strings of specialist
terms.
For example, an image can more elegantly explain how temperature variation creates
different shades of red glass, the changes in eyeglass design, or how a lithium-ion
battery works. In Assistant Professor of Art and Design Gökhan Ersan’s
(https://www.binghamton.edu/transdisciplinary-areas-of-excellence/material-and-
visual-worlds/people/pro le.html?id=gersan) Graphic Design III class, students join
scienti c research with art to explain these and other complex concepts.
“It’s not just about creating beautiful artwork. It’s about research, and actually
understanding the subject,” said So Youn “Alice” Kim ’18, who graduated with dual
degrees in economics (https://www.binghamton.edu/economics/) and graphic design
(https://www.binghamton.edu/art/programs/graphicdesign.html).
This year, four art and design (https://www.binghamton.edu/art/) majors and Ersan
himself earned recognition from the prestigious International Institute for Information
Design  (IIID). Home of the Information Design Journal, a leading journal in the eld,
the organization runs the IIID Award  competition every three years. The 2020
student contest drew competitors from 10 different countries and 14 design schools,
with categories including healthcare, social affairs, research and sustainability. Overall,
27 projects received awards, and will be published in a book by IIID.
With one silver, two bronzes and a shortlist award, Binghamton’s students topped the
list, a signi cant feat for a rst-time competitor, according to Ersan.
Kim received a silver medal for an illustration of the process used to create ruby-red
glass, considered a dif cult task in the glass-making world, while Cindy Knickerbocker
won bronze for a look at smart glass and privacy. Mary Horohoe also won bronze for a
poster on the history of eyeglasses, while Brenda Son was shortlisted — equivalent to an
honorable mention — for a look at different types of greenhouses.

4.  Brenda Son looked at greenhouses for her IIID Award project.
Ersan and Associate Professor Louis
Piper
(https://www.binghamton.edu/physics/research/pro le.html?id=lpiper), director of
materials science and engineering and the Institute for Materials Research, also
received a shortlist award in the didactics category for a collaborative motion graphic,
“Explaining Li-ion battery improvements.” Distinguished Professor of Chemistry M.
Stanley Whittingham (https://www.binghamton.edu/chemistry/faculty/pro le.html?
id=stanwhit) received the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
(https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/2424/the-nobel-journey-of-m-stanley-
whittingham/?
fbclid=IwAR2rXkRlXSzxFHacCllza0w3QCPH1z2cQi1wOaHNYKfN4xXW0Ke4ucvKZFE) for
his work in developing the lithium ion battery, and the animation explains the science
behind it to a general audience. Watch the motion graphic here. 
Scientists often think visually, jotting down diagrams to explain concepts and
mathematical formulas, Piper noted. Embedding those formulas in graphics can make
scienti c concepts more accessible, particularly to those outside the eld.
“People are able to grasp it more quickly and are less put off by the layer of jargon
required,” Piper said. “It’s a really important tool between multi-discipline scientists.
Being able to communicate effectively is a skill researchers need to have.”
The science of glass