In 2018, some students from Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology found the need of a society for their degree. At this time, I was finishing my first year at the University of Manchester, and this idea really interested me. We envisioned the society as a place where all individuals interested in the field could come together and enjoy gatherings and cultural events around this topic.

I was named the Media chair of the society at the beginning of the 2019-20 year, when the society was presented at the Student Union. During summer I had been building a trade mark for the society, with a clear bold two-tone design.

Using white and dark blue, the first thing I created was the isotype for the society. Cognitive neuroscience intends to explain psychology from a new perspective, focusing on the biological mechanisms behind thoughts. This is why the society’s logo takes as inspiration the brain, light bulbs and openness.

As mentioned before, the main purpose of the society was to organise events and gather people interested in the same field. Below are some examples of posters, cover images and videos to promote these events, which have ranged from social gatherings to talks and discussion groups. Below are the posters for some of events organised.

Advert for a Laser tag event hosted by the society later that academic year, made using Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro X.

In 2020, because of the situation caused by COVID-19, the society transferred all of its activity to online. We’ve organised two big events during the first semester of the 2020-21 academic year. The first of these was a virtual party hosted on Discord, called Web Flat Party.

The event, fully organised by my colleague Naomi Engel and I, proposed participants to join with their flatmates, in order to connect with other flats and party “together”. Intensive marketing was performed on Facebook, with other societies collaborating to funnel participants. Over 50 people attended the event.

The second online event scheduled was called “CogNeuro Talk Series 2020”, and consisted in four free talks hosted over Zoom during the October and November. With over 200 participants, the talks were the society’s most successful event to date. Another branding was created, this time inspired by light. By taking the university’s motto: Cognitio Sapientia Humanitas (knowledge, wisdom and humanity), I envisioned the talk series as a bright opportunity to discover new knowledge.

Video credits: Music: Aura - SG Lewis // Acknowledgements: University of Manchester’s Student Union

HECTOR MANGAS