SYNOPSIS

This workshop will distill the core concepts of information design into practical guidelines for crafting visual explanations of your science. My focus will be on clarity and concision and on the idea that form follows function.

To illustrate this process concretely, I walk you through redesign of scientific visuals — submitted by you or from past case studies. By submitting your work (it doesn’t have to be recent), you’ll see how design principles can be applied to graphics that are directly relevant to you.

Please submit your posters, graphical abstracts, slides, or figures (vector art EPS, PDF or AI preferred, but if you only have a bitmap that is ok). Make sure to use the submission link associated with your workshop session.

At the end of this session, participants will:

1. Outline the components of a good visual explanation: context, message, emphasis;
2. Apply key design principles to create good visual explanations: function leading to form, continuity, theme;
3. Identify and remove unhelpful graphics and visual elements.