Boost your visual communication skills
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FeaturedInterview with Meredith Boyter Newlove – Case study: How Creative Data Viz Conveys a Human Story of COVID-19 Community Spread
This is the third post in a 3-part series covering Meredith Boyter Newlove’s career and examples of her consequential work with the CDC. Meredith Boyter Newlove is a health communicator specializing in creative data visualization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her “data viz” colleagues make up one… Read more
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FeaturedMedical Illustrator Hillary Wilson on embracing human variation in scientific and medical art
We’re very pleased to publish the following post on Embracing Human Variation written by our guest blogger Hillary Wilson. Hillary is committed to creating diverse, affirming artwork that includes people of different shades, sizes, and backgrounds. She has a Masters degree in Medical Illustration from the Johns Hopkins Graduate Program for Medical and Biological Illustration.… Read more
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FeaturedInterview with Meredith Boyter Newlove—Building a Science Communication Partnership
This is the second post in a 3-part series covering Meredith Boyter Newlove’s career and examples of her consequential work with the CDC. Meredith Boyter Newlove is a health communicator specializing in creative data visualization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her “data viz” colleagues make up one… Read more
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FeaturedInterview with Meredith Boyter Newlove—A science communication career path
This is the first post in a 3-part series covering Meredith Boyter Newlove’s career and examples of her consequential work with the CDC. Meredith Boyter Newlove is a health communicator specializing in creative data visualization at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. She and her “data viz” colleagues make up one… Read more
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FeaturedBest practices for text
Use of text can make or break a science picture. You can easily apply the Goldilocks Rule to text, just like you can with color: “Avoid extremes—except for a good reason!” With text, the best way to avoid extremes is to always keep in mind that legibility matters most. Text has no purpose in a… Read more
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FeaturedCase study – Clinical informatics picture from Vimig Socrates
The Yale Science Diplomats at Yale University have been using our S.P.A.R.K. online course to help train their members for the “Flipped Science Fair.” At the Flipped Science Fair, Yale researchers present their work to middle schoolers who both learn from the experience and get to judge the researchers posters. In this blog post, Yale… Read more
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FeaturedCase study – PROTAC picture from Michael Bond
The Yale Science Diplomats at Yale University have been using our S.P.A.R.K. online course to help train their members for the “Flipped Science Fair.” At the Flipped Science Fair, Yale researchers present their work to middle schoolers who both learn from the experience and get to judge the researchers’ posters. In this blog post, Yale… Read more
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FeaturedInterview with Christoph Kuehne PhD, Biomedical Animator
In this post, we interview Christoph Kuehne PhD. Christoph is a Biomedical Animator with a research background in electron microscopy. Read the interview below to learn all about Christoph’s exciting career path and how he transitioned from research to animation. What got you interested in science and structural biology in particular? My interest in science… Read more
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FeaturedInterview with Gloria Fuentes PhD, Scientific Illustrator
In this post, we interview Gloria Fuentes, PhD. Gloria is a Scientific Illustrator/Animator and founder of The Visual Thinker LLP. Prior to her career in scientific illustration, Gloria participated in a variety of biology research projects across the globe. Read the interview below to learn all about Gloria’s exciting career path and find resources to… Read more
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FeaturedSPARK visual communication strategies in action: Interview with Patricia Galipeau, Genomics Research Manager at Fred Hutch
In this special post, we interview Patricia Galipeau. Patricia is a Genomics Research Manager in the Reid Laboratory at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The Reid Lab focuses on Barrett’s Esophagus, a condition in which special kinds of cells line the esophagus and can develop into esophageal adenocarcinoma. Prior to working in the Reid Lab,… Read more
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FeaturedCase study – Immunogenicity infographic from Beatriz Inglessis
A few weeks ago, we offered to give feedback to S.P.A.R.K. enrollees who put our 5 strategies for the visual communication of science into action when making their own pictures. Enrollees sent over many wonderful examples of their work. In this post, we’ll walk through some of the feedback we gave to enrollee Beatriz Inglessis. Beatriz… Read more
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FeaturedMisconceptions in the visual communication of science III: More color is better
*Note* This post is part of our ongoing series “Misconceptions in the visual communication of science.” You can find other posts in the series here. As a team of scientists and scientific illustrators, we’ve worked alongside many researchers who try their very hardest to communicate through pictures. Yet, despite best intentions, we often see common… Read more
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FeaturedMisconceptions in the visual communication of science II: I need to know how to draw in order to make an effective picture
*Note* This post is part of our ongoing series “Misconceptions in the visual communication of science.” You can find other posts in the series here. As a team of scientists and scientific illustrators, we’ve worked alongside many researchers who try their very hardest to communicate through pictures. Yet, despite best intentions, we often see common… Read more
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FeaturedMisconceptions in the visual communication of science
As a team of scientists and scientific illustrators, we’ve worked alongside many researchers who try their very hardest to communicate through visuals. Yet, despite best intentions, we often see common misconceptions that undermine the effectiveness of the visuals we encounter. We cover 3 common misconceptions here, and we’ll cover more in future posts. We work… Read more
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FeaturedThe iterative design process behind the makeover of a picture
This blog post was written collaboratively by the Picture as Portal team. Illustrations by Tami Tolpa. In our S.P.A.R.K. online course we stress that creating a great scientific or technical figure is an iterative process. Like great writing, all great pictures go through an “ugly” phase. Only after rounds of modification and editing–ideally with the… Read more
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FeaturedPath pattern make over – contact tracing
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Tami Tolpa. Tami has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Greetings from Seattle, Washington! By now, we’ve all seen many pictures of the novel coronavirus, and that includes visual communications about how to protect ourselves from infection. The slide… Read more
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FeaturedCase study- Infographic for the Journal of Biological Psychiatry – Before and After
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Tami Tolpa. Tami has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. I was trained as a medical illustrator, but I‘m often called upon to perform a role that’s less about illustrating cells and tissues, and more about the design… Read more
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FeaturedCOVID-19 comic case study: Using comics to access your audience
In our S.P.A.R.K. online course, one of the most important visual communication strategies we teach is Access your Audience (the A in S.P.A.R.K.). This means that you should tailor your content and design to your target audience in order to connect with them most effectively. This post explores how some of the inherent qualities of comics can… Read more
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FeaturedCase study – Infographic: Discoveries from metagenomics
Our Science Communications Director, Tyler Ford, also creates written, visual, and social media content for biotech companies and researchers. As you might imagine, Tyler often makes use of the visual communication strategies he’s learned from our S.P.A.R.K. online course. Below, we walk through a few of the strategies Tyler applied to the creation of this… Read more
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FeaturedSPARK strategies in action: COVID-19 Infographic from Graphics Editor Emily Eng
This article discusses design strategies used in the infographic accompanying this article in The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/facts-about-novel-coronavirus-and-how-to-prevent-covid-19/. Many thanks to Graphics Editor Emily Eng for allowing us to discuss her work! Science researchers and communicators are stepping up to the plate in this time of need. We see many examples of great scicomm surrounding COVID-19… Read more
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FeaturedCross Post: Science Talk 2019 Illustrated
At Picture as Portal we love to collaborate with and promote fellow science communicators. Science Talk is “a non-profit organization that seeks to empower and inspire the science communication community to expand their communication potential and affect the world.” In addition to hosting many SciComm resources on their website and providing SciComm training, they host… Read more
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FeaturedComics in science communication
This post was written by Picture as Portal Science Communications Director, Tyler J. Ford PhD. Think back to your science textbooks and classes. You’ll probably recall that a lot of information was presented in expository format. That is, you were presented dry descriptions of scientific facts. Unfortunately, it is not particularly easy to learn from… Read more
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FeaturedMake comparisons easier by following best practices in data visualization
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Tami Tolpa. Tami has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In this, the last of my three blog posts about data viz, we walk through another data visualization I developed for Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington.… Read more
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FeaturedData visualization makeover from word slide to data viz: humanizing and using color, value, and shape
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Tami Tolpa. Tami has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In this, the second of my three blog posts about data viz, we walk through a slide that I created for the EarlyEdU Alliance. Founded by Dr. Gail… Read more
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FeaturedUseful resources to help you go from paper to digital
We know that it can be difficult to go from paper to digital. In this post we share some ways to facilitate the process.
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FeaturedUsing S.P.A.R.K. principles to improve your data visualization
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Tami Tolpa. Tami has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Medical Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Data visualization (data viz) is not new. It’s a tried and true means of portraying large amounts of information, and it has been around for a long… Read more
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FeaturedThanks, Johannes Gutenberg, but we’re moving on: The case for visual communication
This post was contributed by Picture as Portal® cofounder, Betsy Palay. Betsy is a Certified Medical Illustrator and science communicator. She is a founder, former president, and previous creative director of Artemis Creative, Inc. She was president of the Association of Medical Illustrators from 2009 – 2010. Learn more about Betsy at BetsyPalay.com. Around 1440,… Read more
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The benefits of good visual communication in graphical abstracts
When I (Tyler Ford, Science Communications Director at Picture as Portal) used to work at the lab bench, I was most excited by the process of analyzing and presenting data. In the early days of my research, I would spend hours putting together what I thought were perfect figures. Upon presenting them to my supportive… Read more
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FeaturedCase studies: 3 examples of S.P.A.R.K. visual communication of science strategies in action
Participants in the S.P.A.R.K. course do amazing work. They show that, no matter your level of artistic talent, you can apply the S.P.A.R.K. principles to create useful and informative visuals. In our “case studies” blog posts you’ll find examples of pictures created following the S.P.A.R.K. principles. These will come both from the course instructors and… Read more
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Welcome to the Picture as Portal Blog
Back in 2017, the creators of Picture as Portal®, Betsy Palay and Tami Tolpa, came together to pool their extensive experience with scientific illustration and visual communication. The result was the S.P.A.R.K. course on 5 strategies for the visual communication of science. Many people have since taken the course and we’ve received great feedback from… Read more
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