Designing for the advertising needs of leisure space travel

Graphic design has long been a way of telling stories and engaging with the public in ways that reframe our place in the world and our ever-expanding universe. To get the public thinking of where we stand in the celestial black, Seattle design firm Invisible Creature recently released a selection of space-themed travel posters, commissioned by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

These designs serve as an homage to previous NASA missions and discoveries in our solar system. Framed as tourism images that imagine a future where space tourism is a real and common occurrence, each artwork pays respects to the endeavors of exploration and paints an emphasis on the approaching future of space exploration.

NASA’s Voyager mission occurred during a once-every-175-year alignment of the outer planets. Mission control used this to undertake a ‘grand tour’ of the solar system. Throughout its time in space, the twin spacecraft revealed details about Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. It accomplished this by using each planet’s gravity to send them on to the next destination. In line with the concepts and milestones behind this mission, the color palette used in this work draws from the colors of the planets and provides a blend of inspiration.

Another strong piece in the collection features Enceladus. One of the most significant findings of the Cassini mission to Saturn is its discovery of Enceladus’ icy jet. These jets played a larger role in creating Saturn’s E-ring. This work is reminiscent of advertising for national parks, calling attention to its sightseeing possibilities. It reads:

“Visit Beautiful Southern Enceladus | More Than 100 Breathtaking Geysers! | The Home of Cold Faithful.”

The Mars poster imagines a time when we have achieved our vision of human exploration of the Red Planet, one that is marked by the structures and multicolored symbols of a soon-to-be agrarian society. This bold print takes a nostalgic look at the imagined milestones of Mars exploration that will one hopeful day be celebrated as “historic sites.”

The designers did an excellent job in illustrating the imaginative qualities of space exploration and tying them back to the ways that mankind continues to push boundaries and explore worlds beyond our own.

Invisible Creature

Originally published at www.psfk.com on February 15, 2016.