The most immediate reference of the image is the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci. This engraving of the fifteenth century sought to represent the ideally perfect proportions of the human body, manifestation of a cosmological order in the microcosm. In the logo, the square of the illustration was omitted in order to highlight the circle, reference to the research interest in biological rhythms. The blue tint is a reference to the spectrum of light most impacting in the modulation of circadian rhythms. The larger circle represents the Sun, the Earth, and cycles in general. It was the cyclic movements of these stars that imposed the selective pressure responsible for the evolution of circadian rhythms. Smaller circles are a tailored reproduction of the clock gene phase in various human tissues, published in Ruben et al. 2018.
The phase relationship at which the expression levels of these genes establish among themselves in circadian time is evolutionarily conserved in mammals and is an allusion to the idealized proportions in the Vitruvian Man. Disruptions in this order may be associated with various diseases. They also represent the various rhythms in the body. In the graphic part, the base circle, together with the arrangement of the outer circles and the overlapping of the members of the human figure, suggest movement and passage of time. The different positions of arms and legs also refer to the hands of a clock and possible differences in the phase of the biological rhythm. In addition, the human body signals research focused on aspects related to human health. From a Design point of view, the visual solution adds the concepts mentioned, combining a historical element with scientific research, and the sobriety of graphic synthesis is in line with the cutting-edge technologies used in this context. In terms of aesthetics, the formal elements and the choice of the font family were oriented in order to balance visual harmony and organization, taking into account concepts such as symmetry, proximity, contrast and readability in different scales and situations of use.
Ruben, Marc D., Gang Wu, David F. Smith, Robert E. Schmidt, Lauren J. Francey, Yin Yeng Lee, Ron C. Anafi, and John B. Hogenesch. 2018. “A Database of Tissue-Specific Rhythmically Expressed Human Genes Has Potential Applications in Circadian Medicine.” Science Translational Medicine 10 (458). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aat8806.
Credits:
Mateus Gomes de Andrade
mateusgandrade@gmail.com
