Psyche Inspired: Riley Perry

Smiling person with long brown hair in a black blazer, standing in a stone archway. Psyche Inspired

Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Major: Communication Design & Environmental Biology
Psyche Inspired Class: 2025-2026

Reflections on Psyche Inspired

Reflections on Project 1: From Concept to Cosmos: Phases of the Psyche Mission

From Concept to Cosmos: Phases of the Psyche Mission is a foldable booklet–poster that guides viewers through the mission’s six phases. The booklet features pages with distressed graphics of the asteroid and spacecraft. It unfolds into a poster to convey the asteroid’s material and a sense of space exploration.

From Concept to Cosmos: Phases of the Psyche Mission

Riley Perry

November 20, 2025
Major: Communication Design and Environmental Biology
Genre/Medium: Graphic Design/Science Communication
About the work:

From Concept to Cosmos: Phases of the Psyche Mission is a poster that folds into a small booklet. This graphic, narrative-driven piece guides viewers through the six phases of the Psyche mission (Phases A–F). The time-based act of flipping pages allows the audience to follow the mission’s progression from concept to completion. When unfolded, the booklet becomes a poster, inviting viewers to engage with the Psyche mission in a more expansive, visual, and playful way. Read more…

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Reflections on Project 2: Psyche 2026

Psyche 2026 is a wall calendar designed to turn an everyday object into a source of inspiration. The piece features a purple background with colorful dates. ‘2026’ is large at the top, the numbers are formed from Psyche logo shapes. Dates run down the center, and key mission milestones are highlighted at the bottom. The calendar aims to inspire curiosity and celebrate Psyche and space exploration.

Psyche 2026

Riley Perry

January 26th, 2026
Major: Communication Design and Environmental Biology
Genre/Medium: Graphic Design
About the work:

Psyche 2026 is a Psyche mission wall calendar designed to transform an often overlooked everyday object into a source of inspiration. While the Psyche mission spans many years, there are countless meaningful moments, not only from Psyche, but also from space science more broadly, that deserve to be remembered and revisited. My hope is that these highlights spark curiosity and motivate a sense of wonder throughout the year.

The piece is intended for Psyche Mission staff, NASA fans, and all space enthusiasts! Aimed to be more visually engaging than logistically functional, Psyche 2026 showcases key mission milestones alongside significant dates in NASA’s exploration history. The numbers ‘2026’ at the top of the calendar were built using shapes from the Psyche mission logo. Each digit is composed of these elements, creating a piece that ties the year directly to the mission’s visual identity. Designed to hang at a desk workspace, the calendar serves not just as a practical tool, but as a daily reminder of why we explore, why we care about this work, and how past achievements continue to inspire us. Read more…

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Reflections on Project 3: Join the Journey, Follow the Flyby

Join the Journey, Follow the Flyby

RILEY PERRY

March 27th, 2026

Major: Communication Design & Environmental Biology

Genre/Medium: Kinetic Typographic Animation

About the Work:

Join the Journey, Follow the Flyby is a kinetic typographic animation centered on NASA’s Psyche mission and its upcoming Mars flyby, planned for May 2026. The project aims to build excitement and public awareness around this milestone in Psyche’s journey, using motion design as a tool for science communication and engagement.

The 40-second animation follows a short-form media structure, delivering fast, digestible facts through typography and rhythm-driven transitions. Designed in a 1080 × 1920 vertical format, the piece is built for social platforms such as Instagram Stories, Reels, TikTok, and other trending digital spaces. By meeting audiences where they already consume content, this animation aims to spark curiosity both in viewers who are already following the Psyche mission and in those encountering it for the first time. Read more…

All information and images sourced from https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/press-kits/psyche/mission/

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Reflections on Project 4: 16 Psyche Shirt

Purple graphic T-shirt featuring a distressed, vintage sci-fi poster style design for the NASA Psyche mission. Bright colors form a collage of spacecraft parts, a rocket launch, and the asteroid 16 Psyche, with large 16 Psyche lettering. The artwork shows worn textures and hand-painted details, echoing 1950s–60s space posters conveying excitement, risk, and wonder about exploring the unknown.

16 Psyche Shirt

RILEY PERRY

March 27th, 2026

Major: Communication Design & Environmental Biology

Genre/Medium: Graphic Design

About the Work:

16 Psyche Shirt is a graphic t-shirt design inspired by vintage Sci-fi posters, with the hand-painted craftsmanship aesthetic, worn textures, and vibrant Psyche colors.

This era of posters, especially from the 1950s and 60s were inspired by the current events of the time, including the quick advancement of technology, and a mix of fear and excitement for space exploration. I aimed to take the latter motive as inspiration for my last project, featuring a distressed look. The Psyche mission shares similar emotional and psychological landscapes with the pioneering missions back in the 1950s and 60s. Both eras are defined by the means of exploring the unknown, a continuous sense of awe, wonder, and discovery, and the idea of the unseen. Psyche and prior missions are high-risk, and are marked by new technological advancements, intense dedication, and the result of decades of dreaming and passion from all who work on them. Read more…

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