Step 1: the grand idea
The article that this illustration was inspired by is called “Patenting Foundational Technologies: Lessons from CRISPR and other Biotechnologies.” This article focused on how claims that had been made about the success of CRISPR were based on a select population that could afford to undergo treatment. The big ideas I wanted to focus on were “covert activities” and “success at the expense of underprivileged people”. Below is an image of my first draft idea: a glowing CRISPR in a dark cave atop suppressed mounds.
From Great Dialogues of Plato (Warmington and Rouse, eds.) New York, Signet Classics: 1999. p. 316.
Allegory of the Cave:
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave describes scene in which there are a group of prisoners facing the wall of a cave. Behind those prisoners are other people creating shadow puppets on the wall for the prisoners to look at. The prisoners think the puppets are the real world.
This metaphor suited what I wanted to convey. Read on to see the second iteration of my illustration, incorporating the Allegory. This approach was more fantasy-like, with the rendering of the hands of the researcher and the “prisoner”.
Step 2: the impactful design
Imagery for this iteration of the piece was inspired by the animation style in Harry Potter’s A Tale of Three Brothers. The dreamlike quality of that segment spoke to the tone I wanted to convey in my piece.
A still from the animation in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
“The Rising Tide” by Felix Valloton
“Sunset Gray-Blue High Tide” by Felix Valloton
For my color palette, I took inspiration from the French artist Felix Valloton. His high contrast paintings and use of complementary colors lent themselves to the contrasting ideas of success and suppression I wanted to convey.