Congratulations to two IDEA School of Design grads for their amazing illustrated office mural collaboration project where every dot in the composition makes mathematical sense!

Last August, Diana Castaneda (IDEA Grad 2014) art directed a piece conceived and illustrated by Lillian T. Zhang (IDEA Grad 2019) for a shared office space for the Physical Sciences Division of TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre.

About the office mural

“Connected” was created for the co-sharing space occupied by researchers and scientists of the Physical Sciences department at TRIUMF. The concept for “Connected” draws from the work culture and people at TRIUMF, each has its own very focused disciplines that contribute to the same purpose of innovation.

by Lillian T. Zhang (IDEA Grad 2019)

It was such a fun project to be part of. Prior to this mural project, I had worked with Diana, in the summer of 2019, to create a three-dimensional line illustration for Blueridge Chamber Musical Festival. Diana reached out to me after seeing one of my student projects "Sci-Fashion 4.0" on the IDEA grad website. Through this project, she got to know the different types of illustration styles I was able to provide.

In May of 2020, she contacted me about my availability to take on a freelance project. At the time, she kept all details vague, therefore, it wasn't until a week later, that I was informed that I had been selected by the TRIUMF Physical Science board to create two murals for their office space. They loved my style of illustration and couldn't wait to have me on board for this project. 

Having Diana as the Art Director was a truly wonderful experience. She always made sure I had enough information to work with and was willing to offer her assistance with anything that was within her capabilities. In order to provide me with sufficient information for my initial concept sketches, Diana invited me to visit TRIUMF and gave me a tour of the facilities. There I was also able to gather information on past research presentations that would later contribute to the visual aspects of my murals. It's rare to be given such creative freedom and the privilege to propose my personal insights and ideas and I'm very thankful to Diana for giving me this liberty. 

For both of these commission opportunities, I was selected by the same client for two completely different illustration styles. When I was in school, I worried that my portfolio didn't have a defined personal style and that this would set me back. It hasn't however, it's offered many different paths for me. To this day, I'm still exploring different styles and have not defined a style that is unique to me and I'm okay with that. One piece of advice I have for current students is to not be afraid to explore various styles during your time at school, you never know what doors you might open.

by Diana Castaneda (IDEA Grad 2014)

I can additionally say that this project was long-awaited and yet revolutionary because Dr. Jens Dilling always wanted to host a space for his visiting scientists and students, to be more than a shared office. His vision was for a place of inspiration, belonging, and pure excitement for science and diversity.

Lillian and I followed a Design Thinking approach where all the illustrations and design solutions were inspired by the researchers’ work and voted by them. Lillian did a remarkable job translating intricate equations and physical sciences diagrams into beautiful and fun graphics, where every dot in the composition makes mathematical sense.

For more on Triumf, see triumf.ca.

For more on this project, see behance.net.

For more on Diana, see dianacastaneda.com.

For more on Lillian, see lilliantzhang.com.