Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.
Scientific Designs and Tutorials That Will Inspire You
Art and science. The two are more known to be near opposites in the world. Yet, when creativity collides with a logically inspired motif, the results can be spectacular. With a mixture of creative graphics, illustrations, 3D models, trendy typography, photo manipulations and more, you are able to create some of the most amazing art.
Posters have many uses and come in different styles. They can be hung on the walls inside your home, your office, your cubicle. They can be used for print media advertising a special event or a product branding. Some are with typography and some without. The following poster art provides a perspective of science that can only be seen from the artistic side. Links to the profiles of the known artist or source has been provided so that you may view their other designs.
So sit back and let your imagination expand as you take a scientific journey through the the eyes of many artists.
[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has one of the most influential and popular Twitter accounts? Join our discussions and get updates about useful tools and resources — follow us on Twitter.]
Scientific Designs, Posters, and Tutorials
Nuclear War
There are two tutorials on the Greg Martin site that are truly quite remarkable, “Make A Realistic Star Field” and “Make A Planet”, one which is listed at the end of the post. The Star Field tutorial will help you create awe-inspiring star fields, and the Planet tutorial shows how to create a simple, yet realistic-looking planet using Adobe Photoshop 7.
Create and benefit from art and science
We all have a right to create and benefit from art and science. For a book on human rights.
Forgotten Wizard
We all have a right to create and benefit from art and science. For a book on human rights.
Modern Science Will Kill Us All
War Brings Chaos
This illustration has nice photo manipulation and creative use of shapes and colors.
The Forgotten Science
Good visual representation of an abstract issue.
Legacy
A retro abstract cosmic illustration.
DPI
Very unique poster which will inspire you to sit and count the dots per inch.
Chemistry in Forensics
A retro style poster made in Adobe Illustrator.
Blocky Hyperspace
Space design with elements that look like shards or strips of metal.
100 Hours of Astronomy
Utilize one of the tutorials listed below to learn how to create planets and moons in Photoshop.
Rocket Science
A colorful and unique typeset overlays a dark starry field of space.
This is Not Rocket Science
Good typography mixed with a cool 50’s flair makes this a fun poster
Yes, This is Rocket Science
Retro style design with 3D effects.
The Politics of Science
More than creative typography, an artist can see this message, “The Politics of Science”, as the basics of science using various types of equipment and sightings in a typical lab from microscopes to test tubes.
War
Florescent streams of light flow through the unique typography.
Flying Through Space
With the darkened skies of space and the spacecraft moving quickly, the galaxy (by the perception of the artist) is definitely not far behind.
Space Abstract
An abstract of design incorporating good colors and shapes.
Kill The Earth
Bringing forth a sense of the eeriness of the earth, this illustration uses depth and silhouette to depict a truly unique view of where we originate from, the dirt.
A Desolate Outlook on Tomorrow
An environmental concept design using warm colors.
Kau
Fine outline and soft colors shows off this environmental illustration.
Renova Green Love and Action
Bright and cheerful layered illustration full of color.
Photosynthesis
Inspiring. Detailed. A transformation in progress within the illustration.
Comet
The reflection of the comet in the realistic rippling water makes this picture stand out.
WWF Lungs
Nice shades of green with good detail.
Spektrum XL 6
3D graphics and position of wheels makes this image lifelike.
Sub Focus
Think big! Large header typography and a big yellow submarine make a bold statement.
Spektrum XL 3
Good design with cat scientists, 3D effects, and typography.
Chemistry of Love
Designed by Marco Marella.
The Extended Bell Curve
A creative way to show design with the curve.
Celebrate Pi Day
A combination of different typesets used to create a great poster for Pi Day.
Space Time
Grasp a hold on the planet while it’s still green. This capturing fractal art rendition ensnares the globe for you.
Cosmic Eye
The beauty of design is truly in the eye of the beholder. What do you see here?
Cosmic Butterfly
Nature infused with a sense of cosmic play created this conceptual butterfly.
Science Experiments
Multiple colors and design show off the detail of the iguana’s scales.
Solar System
The best photographs in the universe are provided by NASA. On this poster, nine planets (including the controversial Pluto) are featured in bold and colorful design.
Geologic Time
A unique spiral illustration of geologic time in 3D
20 Tutorials to help you recreate some of the scientific elements, typography, and graphics
Making of A Floating Island
In this tutorial, you will learn in 10 easy steps how to make a cool and trendy floating island.
Create A 3D flowery Text Effect in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a 3D font, apply gradients, and floral effects.
Photoshop Tutorial: Stunning 3D Eeffects in 30 MSBinutes
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make 3D typography with a glowing effect.
Design A Rocket-Powered Retrofuturistic Digital Illustration
In this tutorial, using both Illustrator and Photoshop, you will learn how to create a retro interpretation of 3D typography with an an out-of-this-world digital illustration on space exploration.
Creating A Nebula
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a star field and nebula cloud using Photoshop.
Making A Realistic Star Field
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create beautiful star fields that make a piece of celestial art what it is: a portrayal of space.
Light and Glow Effect in Photoshop Tutorial
In this tutorial you will learn several different glow and light effects in Photoshop.
Planet
In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a planet and 3D text while positioning it around the globe.
3ds Max Nuclear Explosion Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a stunning nuclear explosion animation using 3ds Max.
Creating A Retro Grunge Poster
In this tutorial, you will be using textures and the pen tool to make a retro grunge style poster.
How To Draw Optimus Prime (OP) from Transformers
In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw the one and only Optimus Prime (OP) from the popular cartoon series, Transformers.
How To Draw Bumblebee autobot from Transformers
In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw the autobot Bumblebee from the popular cartoon series, Transformers.
How To Draw Bumblebee autobot from Transformers
In this tutorial, you will learn how to draw an autobot in 3D Studio Max.
Kaboom! Exploding Text
Using both Photoshop and 3ds Max, you will learn how to create exploding typography.
Create a Spectacular Flaming Meteor Effect on Text
In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a fire effect similar to when a spaceship or comet enters the earth’s atmosphere.
How To Create A Gold Text Effect In Photoshop
This tutorial will show you how to create a gold text effect. Using only Layer Styles, and once other new style is created, you will be able to save the style and apply it wherever you want.
Create a Spectacular Grass Text Effect in Photoshop
In this tutorial, you will learn to create a grass text effect. This could look super cool on your next environment or eco related project.
Design A Retro Futurism Space Scene
In this tutorial, you will learn how to design a retro-futuristic space scene, using a variety of lighting effects and photo manipulation.
Design A Grunge-style Abstract Typography with Rusted Metal Texture
In this tutorial, you will explore some layer blending techniques, variuos filter effects, and an interesting method of making the text look 3D.
Further Resources
(No votes yet)
Loading ...- 36 Comments
- 1
- 2
May 30th, 2009 11:08 amThat’s more than impressing! Thanks a lot for publishing the tutorials! Awesome!
- 3May 30th, 2009 11:37 am
really interesting works… some of this help to improve your designs, this is my first comment¡
i really like a lot SM thank you for you dedication ..¡¡ - 4May 30th, 2009 11:57 am
Two ’scientific’ photomontages:
Mind Beyond Big Bang: Mind Beyond Big Bang
and
Sound Transform: Sound Transform
- 5May 30th, 2009 12:07 pm
Nice collection ;)
- 6May 30th, 2009 1:18 pm
Errr, not for nothing, but the Comet one (the cheap Bryce noob art) and the Bell Curve dinosaur one are very, VERY uninspiring. Why are they in this list?? Did they pay you to be in that list?? A 10 yr old with one week on a PC can make that crap.
The rest are very nice however. Those 2 fit in like a black man at a KKK rally.
- 7May 30th, 2009 2:05 pm
Thanks alot! Needed this alot!
- 8May 30th, 2009 2:40 pm
The taste of the autor of this article is really fascinating, he is pick some outstanding works for this article, right to some crapy kitch works.
Really amazing. - 9May 30th, 2009 3:05 pm
First of all, another great post. Packed with awesomeness.
I’ve made some science iPhone (or iPod Touch) wallpapers available for free download at my site here. I should try make some wallpapers too… - 10May 30th, 2009 4:42 pm
Eh.. “Futuristic” or maybe even “Sci-Fi” would be a better description, not “scientific”. The only image that I think is really a great example of a scientific design is “Geologic Time”, which communicates a real scientific concept in an artistic form. The other ones are all fine from an aesthetic point of view… but frankly they just don’t bring any real science.
- 11May 30th, 2009 6:32 pm
Escher inspire me not this crap.
- 12May 30th, 2009 8:03 pm
there is so much fantastic art in this, i think all my artsy friends should take a look!
- 13May 30th, 2009 9:59 pm
I was stunned by the WWF Lungs poster showing how deforestation and our lungs are directly related. The message was clear. That poster was perfect!
The speedometer using animals (As Fast As I Can) was interesting too…
Unfortunately, smashing mag has probably desensitized me to flashy graphics so most of the art featured in this article didn’t appeal to me, despite their wow factor. (no offense to the rest of the ‘beautiful’ art in this page)
- 14May 30th, 2009 10:29 pm
I really like the Science vs. Religion poster.
- 15May 31st, 2009 1:10 am
wahhha, there’re some dnb lovers in the sm-team :D
like it :D - 16May 31st, 2009 1:30 am
“Comet
The reflection of the comet in the realistic rippling water makes this picture stand out.”Yes, realistic… if you have never seen water before, this red blob being reflected by a regular pattern of water might seem to look realistic.
- 17May 31st, 2009 1:31 am
The two painterly abstract spaceships are by John Berkey, who really should be credited since you seem to like him. He’s probably worth an article himself!
The one that really stands out for me is the red ‘comet’ one, which is a piece of crap that anyone with Bryce (or something) could knock together in five minutes.
Otherwise, another great inspiration post, thanks. :)
- 18May 31st, 2009 2:36 am
Some new tutorials would have been really good, some of than were “older”.
The posters are really stunning!
- 19May 31st, 2009 2:40 am
Thanks for featuring my typography is everything series!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52128710@N00/Nice collection – All the best!
- 20May 31st, 2009 2:52 am
As Fast As I Can is the one I like.
- 21May 31st, 2009 3:15 am
Nice design!!!
- 22May 31st, 2009 3:39 am
Oh my fucking god, you hit the nail right on the head here, I am horribly weak for this stuff. Great show, and I mean excellent show. :’3
- 23May 31st, 2009 5:25 am
aww come on the “Comet” Poster is like the worst thing I have ever seen and the most unrealistic rippling water out there.
- 24May 31st, 2009 8:09 am
I was gonna say something, but i can just agree with Thomas above me…
that comet poster is like… 90s-3d wallpaper style.. nothing impressive about that at all.other than that you picked some pretty cool images. :)
- 25May 31st, 2009 4:26 pm
A couple of lemons in this post.
- 26May 31st, 2009 9:59 pm
Most of the samples weren’t “inspiring” at all.
- 27May 31st, 2009 11:43 pm
It is sheer lunacy. Great!
- 28May 31st, 2009 11:56 pm
Thank you for featuring my work with Blocky Hyperspace.
best regards. - 29June 1st, 2009 1:33 am
Excellent!!!
- 30June 1st, 2009 9:00 am
Nothing short of awesome..!
- 31June 2nd, 2009 6:45 am
lawl … the comet looks like shit
- 32June 2nd, 2009 9:12 am
Some great stuff, but what’s up with the Greg Martin tutorial mention? No links and buried in reference to another link to another artist? That was kinda weak. Plus I have to agree with the commenters on the Bryce lookin’ meteor, that water looks like something much thicker and possibly plastic than water.
- 33June 3rd, 2009 11:45 am
i suggest you to look at this illustrations from franco brambilla, an italian graphic designer/illustrator if you are interested in sci-fi
- 34June 8th, 2009 6:32 am
Nice to see the poster from Spectrum XL. I always go to those partys and their posters are always very inspiring.
- 35July 30th, 2009 5:04 am
feeling gooooooooooooooood……………
thanks
- 36October 11th, 2009 2:05 am
Hey, thanks for featuring KABOOM. Mostly great stuff on the list, very inspiring.
- 00
There are no trackbacks at this time. If you are interested in leaving a trackback, please use this URL.
Leave a Comment
Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate the article as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise!
Interact
Popular
- 100 Wordpress Themes
- Photoshop Tutorials
- Fantastic Wallpapers
- 40+ Excellent Freefonts
- Dual-Screen Wallpapers
- Wordpress Themes for 2009
- Illustrator Tutorials
- Incredible Free Icon Sets
- High-Quality Free Fonts
- 30 Scripts For Galleries
- Photoshop Text Effects
- Useful Icon Sets
- Web Design Trends
- iPhone Wallpapers
- Before Launching a Website
- CSS Layouts And Templates
- Photoshop Actions
- Stunning Pictures and Photos
- Fantastic HDR Pictures
- Logo Design Tutorials
- Free Design Templates
- 10 Mistakes In Logo Design
- Photoshop Custom Shapes
- 40 Creative Design Layouts
- 8 Layout Solutions
- 53 CSS Techniques
- Photography Techniques
- Black & White Photography
- Styling Design Elements
- CSS-Based Forms
- 50 jQuery Techniques
- 50 Portfolio Websites
- 50 CSS Techniques
- Creative Logo Designs
- Desktop Wallpapers
- 25 Open Source Mac Apps
- 50 Free Icon Sets
- How The CSS Selector nth-child Works - http://bit.ly/cgPMqe
- 33 New High Quality Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - http://bit.ly/bTgFbu
- How to Drastically Improve Your Designs - http://bit.ly/a9L1sb
- A Quick Look at Mobile Web Designs - http://bit.ly/9TCWCG
- How to Test your JavaScript Code with QUnit - http://bit.ly/da853c
- jQuery 1.4 API Cheat Sheet - http://bit.ly/5zYYnE
- Beautiful, Elegant and Free 48px Icon Set - http://bit.ly/cSWcBR
Very interesting work. Not everything is to my taste, but yes .. Quite inspired to get my Wacom out again this weekend. Some of the work is truly amazing. I wish I was half as good as these artists. They’re worth every penny, that’s for sure. Thank you SM for having such a diversity in articles, showcases, etc. Really worth the daily visit.