Article published In:
Information VisualizationEdited by Isabel Meirelles and Katherine Gillieson
[Information Design Journal 23:1] 2017
► pp. 80–95
Edited by Isabel Meirelles and Katherine Gillieson
[Information Design Journal 23:1] 2017
► pp. 80–95
Proving the value of visual design in scientific communication
This study examines how scientists respond to visual design in scientific communications. Specifically, we determine the impact of visual design on the Graphical Abstract (GA), an overview figure that attracts potential readers and visually summarizes what a paper is about. We show that GAs designed in accordance with classic visual design principles significantly enhance readers’ first impressions of a paper. Well-designed GAs make papers seem more interesting, more clearly written and more scientifically rigorous. These results confirm that visual design enhances rather than detracts from the perception of intellectual and scientific competence.
Keywords: data visualization, scientific communication, fluency, scientific figuresvisual design for scientists, table-of-contents graphic, visual communication design, scientific visualization, graphical abstract, information graphics
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].
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