Scientific Infographics

Modern scientific infographics often appear more abstract than older ones simply because of the development of technology which allows for more diverse visual representation. Wired compiled 10 research graphics that visually standout. They are often glanced at or overlooked within the design community simply because of functional nature of material they are associated with even though this seems unfair.

This visual above demonstrates the "waggle dance" done by honeybees in there hive. It involves and series complicated steps that inform other bees of their exact location. The image above shows the steps of 742 waggle dances by individual bees. Using this data scientists hope to make honeybee robots and that can replicate this data. The visual itself creates a nice effect with intense colours. The image almost looks monochrome if it wasn’t for blackened areas and a hint of yellow in the centre.

In a blog post a man talks about how he is helping his 10yr old with a maths problem and that to help him they both have to understand it on the same level. The man discovers that in order to reach the right answer and better understand the question he has to draw graphs and visuals.

“It comes to them in a way that it reads like a story problem. It’s just words and figures on paper. It’s hard to see them come to life, to become something meaningful that they can relate to." - Rootinc

The visuals help solidify the entire problem into one solid image that can be digested and understood better than any 500+. The words may convey specifics better but the visuals help to display the basic idea and meaning behind what your reading so as soon as you have finished reading the visual ties it altogether to create an actual understanding.

The reason why modern scientific infographics have become so abstract and complicated compared to flat design in older infographics other than technology is that as science develops it becomes more complicated forever asking more questions so turning these complex discoveries into digestible visuals is a task in itself.

“One challenge is the lack of shared vocabulary – the public and policy makers generally speak the same language, but researchers have a lexicon all of their own.” – Research Media, 2014

Another challenge is that scientists understand the data in a very different way to us, they see it in a very real and applicable whereas to us it’s just information. So they have to turn it into something that not only we can relate to but something that is visually engaging and understandable. These infographics may represent months of data as well pages of information but it’s condensed down into a graphic that removes all complicated phrases and meanings and simply displays its meaning.

Also a task for modern scientific infographics is because it’s a branch of design it requires only the necessary information to be displayed but also must include relevant information so as the audience know what they’re looking at this often leads to the structure of main visual/infographic centre and information such as height, size, temperature, etc. can be found on the outside surrounding the visual which gives a universal standard for these infographics, that the words and visuals should complement and not overpower or overlap one another.

“I think that the fundamental reason is that what infographics do is they allow you to quickly make sense of a large amount of information, and a large amount of information is one of the defining features of our time.” – Gareth Cook, 2013

Modern scientific infographics have come a long way since Florence Nightingale’s radial graph. Infographics have become the standard for conveying information to the public and help to speed up the process of understanding that is involved with science. Early scientific infographics had a somewhat predictable approach, mostly using flat design with sparse colour which definitely worked in its day. But we live in a world of 3D and colour now and these modern scientific infographics meet the standards. Not only are they visually engaging with their vibrant colours and 3D dimensions but they also include texture. These textures help to bring the designs into the real world and make them so much more relatable as they feel like a part of nature.