Interplanetary

An editorial and digital project mapping the universe’s connected networks through information design.

IUAV University of Venice, Venice (IT), 2015

A panel composed of 2 images. On the left: a minimalist white book cover titled “Atlas of Contemporary Networks,” listing scientific topics vertically. On the right, a retro terminal screen displaying a data log of power commands transmitted to the Curiosity, Rosetta, and Cassini spacecraft.

The overview

The Atlas of Contemporary Networks was an ambitious project at IUAV University of Venice mapping complex infrastructure through a mix of print editorial and digital design. For our chapter, my partner and I were handed the single word “Interplanetary” and a wish of good luck. We had to build the entire content strategy from scratch, deciding to visually organize the universe’s network systems by their distance from Earth. The resulting narrative arc scaled all the way from low-orbit satellites and the International Space Station out to the Milky Way and the NASA Deep Space Network.

The print project eventually bled into the digital world with @AtlasDSN, a Twitter-based installation designed to teach users the meaning of cosmic patience. Visually styled after Atari’s 1979 Asteroids game, a nod to the Voyager launch era, the installation transmitted real tweets to space probes using real signal travel times. If you wanted to ping Mars, you had to wait 20 minutes for the signal to arrive. If you wanted to talk to Voyager I outside the Solar System, you were looking at an 18-hour delay. It was the ultimate antidote to modern instant gratification.

  • A two-page infographic titled “Interplanetary” on a starry black background. It maps cosmic distance from Earth and local satellites on the left, past an asteroid belt, to distant star clusters on the right.
  • A close-up of the “Interplanetary” page, showing the bold white title text, an explanatory paragraph, and a data table converting space distances into kilometres, AU, light-years, and parsecs.
  • A close-up of a white page showing a honeycomb grid of space organisations connected above detailed engineering line drawings of the Orion spacecraft and Arkyd telescope.
  • A full two-page spread titled “Agreements” using a white background. It features large interlocking hexagon clusters to map connections between global space agencies, a historical timeline, and a blue investment bar chart.
  • A full two-page infographic titled “International Space Station” on a starry black background. It illustrates a spacecraft’s launch and orbital trajectory over Earth alongside a detailed technical drawing of the ISS.
  • A close-up of the ISS infographic, highlighting data charts that break down the station’s modules between US and Russian segments, astronaut schedules, and orbital stats against a black starry backdrop.
  • A close-up of a white page mapping the Deep Space Network. Blue lines connect Earth ground stations to satellite relays and chart space observatories ordered by their distance in astronomical units.
  • A full two-page spread titled “Communication.” It features a massive, intricate circular diagram of blue lines connecting global tracking antennas to satellites, space telescopes, and deep-space probes.

The work

I took charge of translating the raw data into a visual language, building the information architecture, content design, and entire graphic ecosystem from the ground up. I owned the print side of the room, executing every layout, typesetting choice, illustration, and complex data visualization. The major curveball was executing all of this within a strict, shared two-color Risograph framework, a beautiful but unforgiving constraint that applied to the entire publication.

Since astrophysics data doesn’t naturally care about human readability, the job was all about stripping away technical density to engineer clear and layered visual narratives. I embedded myself with the developer during the concept phase to pitch and build the foundation. We ended up developing two entirely separate visual languages: a meticulous, data-heavy layout for print, and a retro, interactive interface for the digital installation.

I won’t lie, because it was a duet show performed in just three months, it was pure blood, sweat, and tears. But it became the ultimate workout on information design and partner bonding. We still call each other business partner after more than a decade.

  • A full two-page infographic titled “The Solar System” on a black background. It features large, textured blue-and-white illustrations of Jupiter, Saturn, and their moons, alongside orbital flight paths of deep space probes.
  • Close-up of a book page featuring a starry black background with bright blue orbital diagrams mapping trajectories between Earth, Venus, and Mars, accompanied by educational text blocks about the interplanetary transport network and the Cassini-Huygens probe.
  • Angled view of an infographic page covered in a dense grid of tiny grey and black little planets labelled with alphanumeric codes. Three large planets callouts break up the grid to display data for the exoplanets Kepler-296d, KOI-3010.01, and Kepler-22b.
  • An open two-page book spread titled “The Milky Way.” The left page shows blue diagrams illustrating the conditions for life alongside a technical drawing of the Kepler Space Telescope. The right page displays a massive data grid of tiny dots cataloging stars and exoplanets.
  • An open two-page book spread titled “The Universe.” The right page features a large graphic of an expanding cone illustrating the timeline of the universe from the Big Bang onwards, paired with an electromagnetic spectrum timeline at the bottom. The left page shows text about cosmic distances and a diagram of the Hubble telescope.
  • Close-up of text and blue diagrams on a white book page detailing methods for measuring cosmic distances, specifically highlighting the scientific concepts of “Parallax” and “Standard candles.”
  • Minimalist view of the corner of a textured black page featuring white text that reads “4.9%” next to a small shaded square. Below it, a caption reads: “Only 4.9% of our Universe is composed of observable matter.”
  • High-angle shot of an open book with a minimalist black two-page spread. The left page features text under a “95.1%” heading explaining dark matter, while the right page is mostly blank, featuring only a small “4.9%” statistic about observable matter in the bottom corner.

The result

  • Designed the full print editorial system from scratch, managing layout, typography, illustrations, and data visualizations within a strict Risograph two-color framework.
  • Translated complex astrophysics and spatial data into accessible visual narratives, balancing scientific accuracy with editorial clarity.
  • Co-developed the concept and narrative framing, engineering two intentionally distinct visual languages for the print and digital components.
  • Designed the @AtlasDSN installation experience, connecting users to deep-space spacecraft through real-time tweet transmission delays.
  • Close-up of a computer monitor displaying retro, pixelated white text on a black screen. The screen is divided into a “TRANSMITTING:” column showing outbound messages to deep space probes, and a “RECEIVED:” column showing inbound confirmations.
  • A vertical digital graphic on a black background showing instructions titled “@ATLASDSN: HOW TO TWEET TO DEEP SPACE?”. The left side illustrates concentric planetary orbits with lines connecting Earth to six deep-space probes, while the right side lists the Twitter handles and distances for each spacecraft.
  • Black-and-white photo of an art installation. A line-art satellite dish and six spacecraft (Chandra, Kepler, Curiosity, Rosetta, Cassini, Voyager 1) are projected onto a brick wall under the handle @ATLASDSN. In the foreground, a computer monitor displays a live transmission log with usernames, timestamps, and signal power.
  • A clean digital graphic with white line-art on a black background. It shows a large satellite dish emitting signal lines that map directly to six labelled spacecraft: Chandra, Kepler, Curiosity, Rosetta, Cassini, and Voyager 1.
  • Two tablets side-by-side displaying Twitter posts on a dark background. The left screen shows a tweet by Marco Ferrari explaining how to interact with the art installation, while the right screen shows a tweet by Ivor Williams about live tweeting to Voyager 1, both accompanied by photos of the installation.
  • Digital graphic showing retro, white pixelated text on a black background under the header “TRANSMITTING:”. It logs outbound transmissions from users to deep space missions, including Curiosity, Rosetta, Cassini, Voyager 1, and Kepler, listing exact timestamps and signal power in kilowatts.
  • Digital graphic showing retro, white pixelated text on a black background under the header “RECEIVED:”. It displays logs of incoming tweets containing short messages, target spacecraft handles, timestamps, and kilowatts received.
  • Black-and-white photograph of an art installation room. An interactive display mapping a satellite dish to deep space probes is projected on a brick wall. In the foreground, a computer monitor shows data logs next to a seated person using their smartphone.

Credits

Role: Sole Designer | Illustrator
Concept: Anna Nogaré, Andrea Fasolo Rao
Academic supervision: Marco Ferrari, Ivor Williams

Developed at IUAV University of Venice

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Close-up of a woman gazing at a large colonial painting depicting a noblewoman with children. The woman stands in a dark gallery lit by focused spotlights on the artworks.

Awarded

Shifting Image

Mauritshuis, The Hague (NL)