Psyche Inspired: Mikayla Hymanson

Institution: LEHIGH UNIVERSITY

Major: Graphic Design

Psyche Inspired Class: 2020-2021

Reflections on Psyche Inspired

Reflections on Project 1: Psyche on Vinyl

A 3D mockup of vinyl album artwork inspired by the Psyche mission. The word "Psyche" hovers in star-filled space over a sphere made out of pink, yellow, purple, and orange layers on the vinyl cover. In the middle of the sphere, there is a silhouette of the Psyche spacecraft also filled with stars. On the vinyl record is a purple, yellow, orange, and pink asteroid.

Psyche on Vinyl

Mikayla Hymanson

December 7, 2020

Major: Graphic Design

Genre/Medium: digital art, Illustrator, Photoshop

About the work: The Psyche spacecraft will soon enough give us better insight into the composition of the Psyche Asteroid. In my concept artwork for an album inspired by Psyche’s unique qualities, the silhouette of the spacecraft acts as a window into space, mirroring how the mission will allow us to learn more about the possibly metallic asteroid. The sphere of colored layers behind the spacecraft represents how going to Psyche may reveal information on how the earth’s core was formed billions of years ago. Along with the album artwork, I created a Spotify playlist of songs relating to the Psyche mission and everything space. Listen to the playlist here.

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Reflections on Project 2: The Metal Asteroid

A sculpture of the Psyche asteroid hangs on a wall blue wall. The sculpture is made out of wood and black circular nail caps, which form two large craters. The nail caps also form Psyche's ridges and shadows.

The Metal Asteroid

Mikayla Hymanson

January 22, 2021

Major: Graphic Design

Genre/Medium: nails, nail caps, plywood

About the work: “The Metal Asteroid” is a sculpture of Psyche that is composed of nails and nail caps. The 3 ft. tall sculpture is meant to represent how Psyche might look. Because Psyche is hypothesized to be likely largely made out of metal, I used a variety of metal nails to mimic this proposed composition. The circular nail caps were arranged to form Psyche’s most notable features and shadows. Using pointillism techniques, “The Metal Asteroid” can be viewed as abstract from up close or from afar, where the nail caps come together to form a complete view of the asteroid. To get the full effect of the sculpture, it is mocked up as hanging on a wall.

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Reflections on Project 3: The Surface

The Surface

Mikayla Hymanson

February 26, 2021

Major: Graphic Design

Genre/Medium: graphite, charcoal, ink

About the work: “The Surface” is an interpretation of what Psyche’s surface could look like. The drawing is from the viewpoint of someone (or something) standing on Psyche’s surface and looking out into space. The dim spots in space represent nearby stars and planets. Though we will be unsure about what Psyche actually looks like until we get there, it could potentially be a metal and rocky surface with craters and other texturing like pictured. It will be exciting to compare Psyche’s actual appearance with our artist interpretations.

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Reflections on Project 4: Magnetic Psyche

Purple, yellow, orange, and pink lines are drawn around the Psyche asteroid, which is conveyed by a sphere in the middle of the piece. The Psyche asteroid is black and grey, with details of craters and shadows.

Magnetic Psyche

Mikayla Hymanson

June 21, 2021

Major: Graphic Design

Genre/Medium: digital illustration

About the work: Inspired by the magnetic field that may be around Psyche, “Magnetic Psyche” showcases what the field might be like through colors. I used the colors of the Psyche mission to convey the magnetic field, which is not visible by eye. This visual may help us better understand the shape of the magnetic field and how it relates to Psyche.

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Psyche Inspired

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Psyche Inspired