Visual Design Principles for Scientists & Researchers

A foundational skills session to help researchers apply essential design principles across all visual formats

A focused online session that teaches core visual design principles that work across slides, posters, figures, graphical abstracts, and infographics. This interactive training helps researchers understand why certain design choices create clarity while others create confusion, and so that they can build skills they can apply to any scientific visual.

Scientists, researchers, students, and staff will learn transferable design principles they can apply immediately to any visual format, building a foundation for creating clear, effective scientific communications.

Approach: Interactive skill-building with visual examples (effective and problematic), explanation of design principles and why they work, hands-on analysis of participants’ own materials, and peer discussion

Practical component: Participants submit their own visual materials in advance (posters, slides, figures, data visualisations). During the session, they analyse these materials using design principles, identify improvements, and share insights in small groups.

Delivery: 2 hours online (Zoom or your preferred platform)

Group size: up 100 participants

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SciComm Skills Session: Effective Visual Communication for Researchers

What we cover in 2 hours:

Why visual design matters in science: how design choices support or undermine comprehension
Layout and visual hierarchy: directing the viewer’s eye, organizing information clearly, using white space effectively
Typography fundamentals: font selection, size relationships, readability across contexts (and why these choices matter)
Colour principles for scientific visuals: creating contrast, establishing hierarchy, ensuring accessibility
Alignment and consistency: creating professional polish through systematic design choices
Common visual communication mistakes: how to recognise and fix them in your own work

The session balances practical application with understanding why these principles work, so participants can make informed design decisions rather than following rules blindly.

Practical work: Participants analyse their own visual materials during the session, applying design principles to identify strengths and areas for improvement, then discuss insights in pairs.

Interaction in this Skills Session is designed around guided individual exercises, chat-based reflection, and selected plenary discussion, rather than small-group coaching or personalised feedback.

Tools: This session is software-agnostic: principles apply whether you work in PowerPoint, Illustrator, Canva, or other tools.

What this session does NOT cover:

This session focuses on fundamental design principles applicable across formats, not format-specific guidelines or data visualization techniques. We don’t cover:

Software tutorials or extended design time
Format-specific guidance (poster layout conventions, slide animation, figure standards)
Data visualisation strategies and storytelling with data
Creating complete visuals during the session

These foundations unlock format-specific training: While not essential, this session is the recommended starting point before format-specific workshops like Effective Research Poster Design, Scientific Slide Design Best Practices, or Graphical Abstract Design.

Need comprehensive visual training? Our Visual Communication & Applied Design Principles training is a full-day workshop covering design principles, data storytelling and visualisation approaches, and hands-on practice across multiple formats.

Perfect for

PhD programmes building foundational visual communication skills across cohorts
Research groups where scientists create various visual outputs (posters, slides, figures, graphical abstracts)
Graduate schools establishing shared visual communication standards before specialised training
Institutions supporting researchers who regularly present at conferences or publish in visual formats
Doctoral schools preparing students for diverse communication contexts

This session works best as foundational training before format-specific workshops, or as standalone training for researchers working across multiple visual formats.

Looking for related skills sessions or longer-format training?

Apply these foundations to specific formats:

Effective Research Poster Design (layout and design for conference posters – benefits from completing this session first)
Scientific Slide Design Best Practices ( visual clarity for presentations)
Graphical Abstract Design (visual research summaries – recommended after this foundation).

For comprehensive visual communication training: Visual Communication & Applied Design Princples – full-day workshop covering design principles, data storytelling and visualisation techniques, and multiple visual formats with hands-on practice.