Making math fun for the littles
Category: National Museum of Mathematics
An enigmatic puzzle
A few years back, on the heels of the release of The Imitation Game , MoMath hosted a puzzle hunt based on that film. To that end, the exhibit designer and I were tasked to create a codex cylinder for one of the problems the participants were to solve. He created this lovely acrylic and magnet device and my job was to make the letters to be manipulated to break the code. Seeing that the hunt was based on the movie, and the movie was based on Alan Turing’s quest to break the German ENIGMA code during World War 2, I used the ENIGMA code machine as an inspiration – using typewriter-style lettering for the letters, and including a patterned interior based on the housing of the ENIGMA machine itself. These devices are still used by the Museum education department as part of their code-breaking lessons.
A debate on math education
The Museum hosted a debate around a year ago highlighting the pros and cons regarding the current state of high school level mathematical education in the United States. I was asked to create a backdrop (which also acted as an advertisement on the Museum website).
A little one-on-bot half court
MoMath opened a new exhibit this morning – the idea of which is to enter the parameters of a basketball shot into a ball-throwing robot and allows you to try your hand at trying to replicate the shot yourself at a basket placed next to the bot’s. A computer analyses both shots – allowing you to change what you did on both your shot and the bot’s to try to correct for a miss.
The task for me was to create the logo, marketing graphics, and directional graphics (for the Ball Bot).
I’ve played with the Bot. It’s a heck of a lot of fun. I mean, it’s a robot that shoots basketballs… what’s not to like about that?
Summertime, and the learnin’ is easy.
Summer is coming and with it the salvation of all parents who work full-time: summer camp. I was tasked with coming up with the logo for the summer program of the Museum to appear in promotional materials as well as the t-shirts the kids will get. (The final design can be found is on the upper right.)
The math festival this city deserves
The directive was to come up with a logo for what is hoped to become an annual mathematics festival for New York City. In the end, the Museum decided to go for a more generic look for the promotional material, but I was quite pleased with how these were turning out so I decided to showcase them here.
Would you like to play a game?
MoMath has an upcoming games night (mostly board games with mathematical credibility) and needed a logo for web and other promotional materials.
The pivot point on the Q was a play on the name of the event, with the playing piece balancing out the design.
Go (math) team, go!
Every week, the president of the National Museum of Mathematics creates two puzzles that appear in both The Wall Street Journal and the website varsity.momath.org. The task here was to create a logo for these puzzles for their title: Varsity Math. The number to the bottom right of the logo indicates which week the puzzles are related to – a later addition to the design that I’m quite pleased with. It reflects the theme and is easily changed from week-to-week.
Swarms of Robots
The designs below were created for an exhibit at the National Museum of Mathematics called “Robot Swarm,” which explores the algorithms that describe the swarming behavior of animals such as birds and insect. A video and article appearing on The Verge regarding the exhibit appears here.
These were concept designs for the logo. I’d originally been going for a “Wall-E” style design, but after speaking with the Chief of Design (Exhibit Designer) and seeing the chassis for the actual robots, I decided that a concept that was more informed by that movie’s love interest “EVE” was far more appropriate.
This was produced as a sign that was hung on the draping that surrounded the build.
The schematic for the window display appearing in the Museum’s shop: Additions.
This design was used as both the signage above the exhibit, and as the banner above the digital controls – below which appears the graphics describing the five swarming behaviors available to the museum patron to interact with (the yellow dot represents the patron).
Quantitative smackdown
Below appear two ads (one print, one online – both appearing in the Wall Street Journal) advertising the 2016 MoMath Masters – an annual competition for mathematical geniuses held by the National Museum of Mathematics. These ads (as well as any other MoMath materials) were done as an employee of the Museum and all rights belong to that establishment.
Jason Polkovitz 