Design and Wiki

The Design and Wiki team is responsible for ensuring the competition judges and general audience can understand and access our work easily!

The main project the subteam is responsible for is the team wiki website, a critical deliverable for the iGEM competition. This is where we describe the project, present our results, and document the experimental process for judges, other teams, and the general public. You can see some UBC iGEM wikis from past seasons here: 2024, 2023. The subteam is also responsible for other deliverables such as the project promo video and presentation video. Other important projects include external communications, social media management, and internal tools.

Here are some general categories of the work that the Design and Wiki subteams do:

Web design

One of the biggest deliverables for the competition is the team wiki, where all the documentation is recorded for judges, other teams, and the general public. Here are the team wikis for the 2025, 2024, 2023 seasons. Additionally, we also have our own general website.

PILOT: 2023 Wiki Landing Page

UBC iGEM 2023 Wiki Landing Page: PILOT

UBC iGEM 2024 Wiki Landing Page: nuCloud

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Wiki building

The actual build process will put together all of the processed documentation into a final product, following the visual design established in the web design phase.

This is a content-focused project — while there are many dynamic elements that will need to be built into the wiki, this isn’t a full highly-interactive webapp. Our focus is on creating an easy-to-navigate, accessible, well-styled site that effectively showcases all of the hard work the team has put into the project. Wiki members will be building a lot of small, interactive components and working on displaying complex, content-heavy layouts.

Knowledge of HTML/CSS, git, and responsive web development is recommended to join this team. Additional experience with Typescript as well as frontend frameworks such as Astro, React, Svelte, etc. will be helpful and experience with SSGs (Static Site Generators) such as Zola, Hugo, etc. and web accessibility is also an asset.

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Documentation infrastructure

The wiki needs to incorporate information about the work of all the other subteams: Wet lab, Dry lab, Human practices, and Administration. This documentation comes in a large variety of forms, from 3D CAD (Computer-aided Design) models to videos of experiments to Notion databases with lab notebook entries. Members of the wiki subteam will need to work with the various subteams and determine how we can ingest their documentation in a smooth and robust manner (e.g. write a script to transform a Notion database into Markdown, apply post-processing and then transpile into styled HTML for use on our site), as well as how it will be displayed on the wiki site (e.g. how can we display a CAD model on the frontend?).

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Vector Illustration

Since the bulk of design is for the wiki, most illustrations/graphics made need to be vector-based. Some examples for these would be the project logo, figures, and diagrams to explain technical aspects of our project. This is the part where integration with other subteams, particularly wet and dry lab teams, is crucial, as the Design/Wiki team is responsible for conveying scientifically accurate information in a clear and accessible manner. Any vector graphics software is acceptable like Adobe Illustrator, Figma, etc.

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Graphic Design

Simple graphic design work is usually needed for things like social media posts, sponsorship packages, and presentations (usually for sponsorship/marketing, in collaboration with the Admin subteam). Usually done through Canva or InDesign.

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Animation

Smaller animation projects in the past include animating the logo and making motion designs for videos. The biggest animation project is an ongoing initiative that started in 2020, which is the “Simply Synbio” video series on YouTube. Thus far, these videos have been done using frame-by-frame animation and time-lapses.

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Video Editing

Some other deliverables include the project promotion video and presentation video that judges will watch. The Design and Wiki teams play a key role in planning these videos, from storyboarding through filming and editing, to ensure that the story of our project flows well. Some other video editing projects from last year included hardware tutorial, troubleshooting, and demo videos (Example: Bioreactor How-to-Use video).

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Future directions

This year, we would like to explore new and innovative ways to communicate our science. We need your help to come up with new ideas– possibilities are endless, this could be building a VR simulation, or a game, or an AR tool!

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Is this all the Design and Wiki teams do?

Not at all! Beyond the main deliverables, the Design and Wiki projects vary each year depending on the project focus, goals, and of course, our members' unique talents and interests. Design and Wiki are flexible subteams, and we encourage members to take initiative and bring in their own visual and technical design ideas.

Why join us?

The Design and Wiki subteam welcome applicants of all skill levels and can offer you a chance to showcase your skills on a platform that is both competitive and learning-based. We don’t expect you to know everything right away and we are willing to help you learn about what you are interested in. This is a place where you will make new friends and collaborate with like-minded people to showcase our skills in synthetic biology, business, modelling, design, and manufacturing.

“I would like to apply, but I don’t know how to do __________!”

No worries! The Design team welcomes creatives who are excited to be active members of iGEM and eager to pick up new skills along the way. Enthusiasm and a growth mindset are what matter most!