The story behind ELAS
Hey there!
My name is Joukje Willemsen and I’m the creator of ELAS (the icon of ASReview) and the illustrations on the website.
Who is ELAS?
ASReview uses active learning and artificial intelligence, which can sound intimidating. Therefore, the challenge of designing the logo, was to capture both a modern and futuristic touch, while still being open and friendly. And so, cute robot ELAS was born!
ELAS is your ELectronic ASsistant; your best friend and colleague in times of systematic reviewing. Quickly, ELAS started to live his own life; hanging in the lab and lounging in the air with balloons…
Illustrations
To explain the process of ASReview LAB in a playful way, we created a small series of illustrations for the website. For these illustrations I was inspired by PHDCOMICS. Do you see the resemblance of the male character?
To highlight that the entire ASReview process is “open” and visible, we visualized it as a see-through, glass machine. This transparent box is the opposite of a black-box. You can also see that the researcher is actively involved in the process. She is the one that makes the eventual decisions.
Coverpage Nature Machine Intelligence
The artwork has also been used as the cover of an issue of Nature Machine intelligence! The original illustration I made is on the left and the actual cover as published in Nature is on the right.
Cite the artwork
The artwork can be find on GitHub and is licenced under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It was truly a joy working on these projects! I hope you enjoyed the illustrations.
