‘Nexo’ awarded for a series of drawings of scientific discoveries

a the Nexus He was one of the winners of the Best Digital Design Award, which is promoted annually by the News Design Association, an international design association focused on journalism. The cartoon series “The Illustrated History of Knowledge”, produced by the newspaper with the support of the Instituto Serapellera, was awarded the Excellence Award at the 2022 edition of the competition.

The Illustrated History of Knowledge project consists of ten illustrated timelines, which explain how inventions or scientific knowledge has forever developed our way of life. From the start of the series until its last publication, in July 2021, there was a year and a half of intense communication from the graphics team at the Nexus With scholars from Brazil and abroad. Each expert produced a preliminary script, which served as the basis for the final illustrated materials.

Gabriel Zanlorenssi, Graphics Editor at the Nexusabout the award.

“I think it is an achievement for the entire editorial staff at the NexusAlso in conversation with the technical team, Lucas Gomez, the newspaper’s graphic designer responsible for designing the project, said.

The Best Digital Design Award has been held annually since 2002. The Society for News Design says the goal is to reward the best visual innovations in journalism. In 2022, 1483 works were contested, judging by 21 members of the organization’s jury. Beside the NexusPublications such as the American newspapers The New York Times, The Washington Post and Argentine newspaper La Nación were honored.

Behind the scenes of the project

This concept emerged in February 2020, from a diagram made by Alicia Kowaltowski, a professor at the Institute of Chemistry at the University of São Paulo (University of São Paulo) and a newspaper columnist. the Nexus. The intention was to produce a timeline that tells the story of insulin.

The idea was incorporated by the graphics team at the Nexus It was submitted as a serial project to the Instituto Serrapilheira, a private non-profit foundation that aims to fund research and scientific publishing initiatives.

The Serrapilheira Institute supported a project that included the development of this content and the production of the podcast series Scientists from Brazil You Need to Know. The support also ensured that the contents were publicly available without the need for a subscription (outside of the paywall).

The project, which was internally called How We Arrived, began by defining the themes of the ten timelines that would be produced. The first ideas were proposed by Professor Alicia Kowaltowski, and the Nexo team thought of the others.

in every From the stories, the newspaper team had the support of various scholars with great knowledge in their fields. His responsibility was to produce a text in the form of a timeline to compose the visual narrative of the topic in question.

After all the steps were counted, it took 35-50 days to produce each item, which required anticipation and planning. The first timeline was published in October 2020, followed by nine more materials, always published on the last Friday of the month.

The project sought to explain scientific concepts developed over centuries, in a simple visual language but at the same time very rich in detail and accessible to the public. “Its goal was primarily a scholarly publication, but with an innovative and engaging approach,” Zalanlorenci said.

The series had live action, with varying degrees of participation, of at least seven people from the graphics team at the Nexus, and with valuable cooperation from 12 scholars. They are, in alphabetical order, Alicia Koaltosky (USP), Anderson Brito (Yale), Eduardo Muller Caceres (UFRJ), Fabricio Campos (UFTO), Henrique Pacini (Unctad, United Nations), Giulia Macedo Rosa (Beaulieu, Hong Kong), Kuwaiti Araki (University of the South Pacific), Marcelo de Carvalho Ramos (UNICamp), Marian Zoten (UFRJ), Rubia Gomez-Morato (University of the South Pacific), Teresa Losada Valle (University of the South Pacific) and Thomas Kowaltofsky (UNICamp).

Scientific Publishing and “Nexo”

a the Nexus It has a close relationship with scientific publishing and academic production since its launch in November 2015. The newspaper’s main motive is to produce journalism that contributes to a qualified and pluralistic public debate, capable of strengthening Brazilian democracy. Appreciating scientific production and creating new ways of communicating with it is a way to broaden this debate.

In addition to the “Illustrated History of Knowledge” series, the Nexus Produced two phases of the Brazilian Scientists Need To Know initiative, with interviews, videos and podcasts showing the lives and work of prominent figures in Brazilian science. The project was also produced in partnership with the Serrapilheira Institute.

In parallel with the Nexus He also has Nexus general policiesAnd the Academic Platform – Journalism Which brings the production of some of the major research centers in Brazil and the world in clear language and innovative forms. There is also a file EDU Nexusa tool created specifically for educators and students, to promote the encounter between journalism and education.