The Inspiration Behind the Nebulas NOVA Design

Published in

Nebulasio

5 min readDec 21, 2018

An exclusive interview with Nebulas’ senior designer Mengggo Liu!

Recently, we have revamped the official Nebulas website, and the new design looks great, doesn’t it? Since this new website was created with great attention to details, we would like to share with you their working process through the eyes of our senior designer, Mengggo Liu.

Introduction

With sparkling eyes and fashionable hair, Mengggo is a unique individual with a style of his own. It’s fitting that such a unique and enthusiastic person is tasked with a visual conceptualizing Nebulas vision into a visual design.

As a millennial designer, Mengggo graduated from Nanjing University of The Arts, one of the top art institutes in China. After graduation, he gained employment from Netease UEDC, located in Hangzhou, China. By pure luck, he met Nebulas co-founder, Aero Wang, and this is when he first learned about the Nebulas vision. Immediately, Mengggo was drawn in by the passion of Aero and interested in a future with Nebulas. As a result, he followed his heart and chose to leave his employer and join Nebulas in Beijing — nearly 700 miles from where he graduated. As his exciting new job in the blockchain industry, Mengggo would be in charge of branding and UI design for all Nebulas’ products & websites.

Question 1: As the Nebulas NOVA designer, can you introduce us to the design philosophy and the elements in the logo and website?

Mengggo: “When designing Nebulas’ elements, it’s important to remember the vision while creating something as unique as Nebulas; using my own abstract feel. It’s also very important to retain the existing design so not to confuse existing individuals. So, while existing users should feel right at home, the new design should provide confidence for potential new users. In addition, the NOVA logo has a mirror effect that reflects the data below, demonstrating the multi-dimensional feel of Nebulas, along with the data as a whole. By reflecting existing data, we can measure it in a more meaningful way.”

In more detail, Mengggo described the Nebulas logo as a UFO arriving on a sea of blockchain data; representing new ideas coming to life. In fact, anyone who has seen the blockbuster movie, “Arrival,” may experience the same emotion as in the movie; when the unknown is hovering above the ground — just out of reach.

Question 2: The Nebulas NOVA logo has a unique shape. Can you share the steps taken in order to achieve the final design?

Mengggo: “As soon as I started the new design, I knew that a reflection was an important aspect. Since I was obsessed with the textures, I spent far too much time on it without reaching the desired result. Luckily, in the end, we did achieve the right balance in the NOVA logo!”

Question 3: What was the biggest hurdle you experienced while designing the new Nebulas NOVA visuals?

Mengggo: “Well, looking back at the process now, nothing felt like too much of a challenge, especially since we, Nebulars, improve ourselves and the vision while pursuing our dreams.

However, since we did have a difference of opinion, regarding the overall look of the Nova logo, it took some time in group brainstorming sessions in order to come up with agreed upon concepts. Finally, everyone involved knew that the best option was to return to a familiar design that would be identifiable to our community, and, as a result, we decided to expand on the existing concept.”

Question 4: The new Nebulas website consists of a modern purple color which perfectly matches the new NOVA logo. Can you share the relationship from the perspective of the designer?

Mengggo: “As most know, the pre-existing color scheme of the Nebulas logo was black and white — by representing a perfect balance, it stated that “Nebulas is for everyone” and the world can benefit from a fair, decentralized collaborative system. However, for the second phase of Nebulas, NOVA needed a bold color to state that we are here to stay — strong and united while retaining that original belief! Once we designed the Nebulas logo, it was easy to choose the current color scheme.”

We would like to take a moment to thank lead designer, Mengggo Liu, for his time — along with his undeniable passion for Nebulas!

The Nebulas website has completed its full transformation prior to the release of Nebulas NOVA. The new site details everything coming in NOVA and beyond, including:

Nebulas Rank (NR)
Nebulas Blockchain Runtime Environment (NBRE)
Developer Incentive Protocol (DIP)
The roadmap to the Nebulas Autonomous Metanet

The Nebulas team is also providing new communication tools, including the Nebulas Wiki and numerous mailing lists. We openly welcome the community to browse our new website and share the experience.

We are pleased to announce that Nebulas NOVA development is proceeding and the testnet will be released by the end of 2018. The Nebulas research team has already released the off-chain version of the Nebulas Rank (NR) API which is available to all, as well as the deployment of the Nebulas Blockchain Runtime Environment (NBRE). The Nebulas Rank (NR) on-chain algorithm has been completed and is in the final phase of integration testing.

Ushering in the next phase of blockchain evolution, the entire Nebulas team looks forward to the official release of Nebulas NOVA. We invite our valued community to join us on this momentous day!