Data Visualisation

Circos are a tecnology company that have redefined how we think about visualising genomic data. They've pioneered the use of circular graphs to map genomes and chromosomes, which allows for a much more intuitive and visually efficient way to compare genomes. They have lots of documentation on their website about how to set up their software to create genome maps. Some of this is tutorials and some of it is lectures. One of the first lectures they have is about design principles and data visualisation, and it's well worth a read for anyone who has to represent data of any type.

The presentation focuses on applying graphic design principles such as simplification and consistency to graphs and charts. It shows how minimising unnecessary or redundant visual elements makes your graphs much easier to read and your data much easier to interpret. Take a look at the link below.

CIRCOS: Practical Visualisation Principles

Beautiful Science

The British library are hosting a free exhibition on the presentation of data in science, and how to make beautiful infographics.

Turning numbers into pictures that tell important stories and reveal the meaning held within is an essential part of what it means to be a scientist. This is as true in today's era of genome sequencing and climate models as it was in the 19th century.

Beautiful Science explores how our understanding of ourselves and our planet has evolved alongside our ability to represent, graph and map the mass data of the time.

- British Library Website

They're hosting a load of cool events and talks to go alongside the event. Most of these have unfortunately already sold out, but there are still some cool ones going.

William Farr, Report on the Mortality of Cholera in England 1848-49, 1852

You can find out more about the exhibition at their website: http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/beautiful-science/index.html

Visual Identity in Science Illustration

This post is based off a talk I gave at Imperial College London for a society run jointly with the Royal College of Art called Artifact.

What is science illustration?

I frequently get asked the question 'so you're a science illustrator, what do you do?'. Most people think of science illustration as designing illustrations for science textbooks. This is one of the things we do. We also try to represent research in a visually appealing way, either as info graphics or illustrations of things that aren't visible. Finally there's editorial illustrations where you have a lot of creative flexibility but don't need as much understanding of the technical details of the science.

At its heart all illustration is problem solving, trying to find the best visual solution to a set of constraints, called the brief. Some briefs requite absolute attention to technical detail, others allow for much more creative flexibility. Most illustration briefs can be placed somewhere along a sliding scale between technical and creative.

How to make a simple animation

Animation is a great way to communicate more complicated scientific concepts. It's less ambiguous than illustration when showing how processes occur, and is better at displaying 3d structures.

Animation is also a lot more complicated to create than illustrations. Rather than just picking up a pen and sketching a quick image, you have to involve technology both in assembling the frames and showing off the final product.

We're going to go through how to make a simple animation in this post so that you can offer something a little more interesting than objects flying around in powerpoint on your next presentation.

Think differently: how to make a memorable science illustration

Science illustration can pose a challenge with its conflicting demands. On the one hand, illustration is about creating something visually memorable, which is easiest achieved by making it look different to what everyone else has done before. On the other hand, science is pretty specific about what is and is not accepted as true. Unless you've been granted some artistic license on the subject, you can't just change the science of your subject to make your illustration more interesting.