Sharing how we can communicate our science effectively, whether in posters, papers or on social media!
Share
SciCom – Unique Habits That Improve Your Designs
Published 19 days ago • 4 min read
Developing a Sense for Design
Hi Reader, do you pay attention to advertising on the sides of roads or in the city?
I believe you should, as it will make you a better science communicator.
Whether we design graphical abstracts, bar charts, or overviews we cannot do that without graphical design.
So, here’s how to develop a sense for it:
Why It Matters For Science
Designing good figures and diagrams is not always a scientific process.
We have to convey scientific data, but finding the right design leverages human perception. We have seen how important this is for statistics.
Indeed, there are basic principles to ensure accuracy and avoid misleading our readers. But beyond this, it's often a craft based on training and intuition. There is no absolute right or wrong when it comes to which font, layout, and sometimes even statistics you choose.
The point is that a good-looking presentation will get you higher scores; a good-looking figure or poster will make people pay attention. As we saw, proper design also assures accuracy in presenting data as well as statistics.
Therefore, how can you develop a feel for beauty, composition, and especially visual communication?
First, Pay Attention
Luckily, design is all around you.
The principles that enable you to create better figures and graphs can be found in the design of advertisements, products you buy, and also the logos of companies.
Do you see how the design on the left could have inspired the scientific graphic on the right? Of course, the headline can also serve as inspiration for how you design the headings in your next PowerPoint presentation.
No doubt, also pay attention when you open a textbook or read a publication. Too often, we gloss over well-designed figures.
Still, our visual system does not fundamentally differentiate between looking at a graph and looking at an advertisement.
Aspects like clarity, contrast, or the guidance of your eye follow very basic principles that apply everywhere.
Don’t Avoid Judgment
When analyzing designs, be judgmental - but tolerant.
The goal is to actively notice what a certain design attempts and whether it succeeds.
Yes, I would argue that everyday situations in particular will sharpen your eye. Can you play with shapes? Why does a design convey a certain feeling? Where do your eyes move first? If it seems unrelated, just think about how you choose colors for bar graphs - which colors distract? Which contrasts might bias you? But yes, in science it is often about doing the exact opposite of tempting advertising.
Is it conveying a message very clearly? Is it very beautiful? Is it accurate?
An example: You might see some modern, black-and-white, really edgy designs and notice that an arrow with rounded corners might not really fit in there. This might guide you in your next graphical abstract.
However, I also want to encourage you to pick up on the things that don’t work.
Yes, it goes both ways. And this might be one of the few instances where you can rightfully shame others in your head : ). See what you aspire to, and clearly judge what you think is insufficient, misleading, or simply suboptimal. Believe me, once you start looking, you’ll see plenty of both.
I say “be tolerant” because this is not an exercise in saying what you personally like or enjoy. It’s about effects.
What Others Don’t See…
While doing this, just perceive, let your mind run freely. Then you will notice what you normally don’t.
That means, look at them differently than anybody else does. A fantastic example is white space.
It is something we normally don’t notice until we have to create it ourselves.
When you do a modern design that comes with a lot of white space, it can feel intimidating. But once you see it in a post by a colleague, it looks really good.
This is an exercise to discover design principles that actually make one thing or another so enticing but are not immediately apparent.
Typical features include:
Alignments
Color palettes
Shapes
Composition
Sizes
Contrasts
Pattern interruptions
Just take a look at Nature papers, for example. They do an amazing job of combining scientific accuracy with beauty.
Another great example that drives this point home is that most corporations and brands make very consistent choices - this is why you should notice that there is something like corporate design. Open Nature papers and you will see a consistent design. You probably wouldn’t even have noticed that these figures come from twodifferent papers.
The point here is that I would advise you to always ask: Why? Why are certain design choices made the way they are? How do they make them? Why does the thing look the way it looks?
A Pragmatic Tip
Collect impressions. That means take pictures, download papers, and save figures or posts that you really like.
This is a screenshot of a PowerPoint I keep to collect great pictures. Similarly, I have one for ads, for scientific content, etc. Just like a mood board, I put everything in there. Again, scientific design leverages universal human perception.
While this will make you more vigilant, you will also be able to go through them to get inspiration when you feel stuck or uncertain.
Also, try to find things that make your life easier.
For example, many designers work with grids - especially when you create multi-panel figures or graphical abstracts.
You might think that this example is trivial, but for both the arrangement of your PowerPoint slides and the figure panels in publications or posters, it matters. And while in retrospect it seems obvious, once you sit in front of a pile of graphs, you will think painfully back to this moment. However, Marq has written a fantastic article about design principles.
In essence, let others help you: collect things that you think are well designed, collect palettes, and helpful tools.
Believe It Until You Achieve It
And finally: try to steal. In order to become better, you need to copy those who you think are doing an amazing job.
Speaking from experience, follow your inspiration and aspiration, because in the beginning, you’re probably going to suck.
This is actually a real life example of me – I designed the graphic on top almost 3 years ago. The example on the bottom is how I would design it now. I wouldn’t say that the graphic on top is bad but obviously it doesn’t feel professional at all.
What matters here is that, of course, we cannot notice some patterns and then immediately translate them into our tasks.
Normally, we move there inch by inch: with every design we make, we figure out new insights, develop new habits, and gain new perspectives.
Even in science, there is a lot of space for design - good visuals improve clarity, accuracy, and robustness.
How We Feel Today
PS: This image is taken from an excellent book on scientific design
Graphical Abstract - Contents Hi Reader, what should a graphical abstract include? While there is no single right answer, what you choose to show will influence how easy (or difficult) the design process will be. Just like with posters or figures for papers, it's a lot about prioritization. Therefore, let's see how to decide what to include: What To Show Essentially, you want to show the key points that make the implications of your work clear. To my mind, this is a very well-designed...
Discussing Graphical Abstracts Hi Reader, want a short and concise option to communicate your science? Graphical abstracts are a fantastic way to do so. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking they are the same as a written abstract, just with pictures. To design a good graphical abstract, we must properly understand its nuances: What's Their Purpose? Fundamentally, a graphical abstract is a visual way to express the main idea of a scientific paper. There is an almost endless variety of...
Why Statistic Design Matters Hi Reader, when putting together your figures, we have to talk about statistics. Although it might seem straightforward, how you visualize them matters a lot for scientific accuracy. Design them properly and you will have robust as well as beautiful figures. Let's see how they often both go hand in hand: Ensure Accuracy When talking about designing figures, an essential point is how we include statistics. How we decide to display them is crucial for scientific...
