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Kamis, 11 September 2014

Latest modern science | Critique: Fetal movements - Si Bejo Science

I often say that when I critique posters on the blog, I am looking at the design of the poster and not the science or technical content of the poster. That is particularly true for this one, submitted by reader Josefine K�hberger. It�s not that there is anything wrong with the poster, but I cannot read German! Click to enlarge:

Here is Josy to provide a little context:

It�s about qualitative aspects of fetal movements. To express that the focus is on maternal sensations and interviews, I used a drawing of a pregnant woman and put a �word cloud� inside her stomach.

This poster is excellent.

The simple image of the woman is so strong, yet so evocative of the subject matter, that anyone walking by should be able to grasp what this poster is about immediately, even from a distance.

The word cloud is a simple way to present text in a visually interesting way. Placing it in the woman�s silhouette is very clever and effective. If you want to make word clouds:

Wordle was one of the first, and still a favourite of mine (used to make the cloud of this blog�s test at right).
Word cloud generator
Word it out

This poster is not cluttered. There is no fear of empty spaces, particularly down at the bottom. That is something that too many poster makers fear. They think every inch of the poster must contain ink. As this poster shows, it does not.

There is a simple, consistent colour scheme to both the text and images. The red in the title looks a little brighter than in the woman�s figure, and I might have wanted to make them the same. But it�s very minor. Red is a very powerful colour, but the combination of a slightly darker, almost brick red on the muted background prevents the red from being overwhelming.

I also love the dual headings, with the black bar on top of bold red text. I don�t know how the text is divided between those two elements, but it is very striking.

Josy says that this site had a hand in the creation of this poster (aw, shucks):

I had to create a poster (my first...) and found your �better posters� instructions on internet... which was a great help. The poster won the first prize. So I want to say �Thank you�!

Kamis, 04 September 2014

Latest modern science | Critique: Mouse lungs - Si Bejo Science

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This week�s poster from reader Irena Feng, and is used with her permission. Click to enlarge!

The mouse picture provides an immediate and powerful entry point into the poster. The direction of the mouse�s head draws attention away from the (unnecessary) abstract, and into the introduction and methods, which is a more relevant starting point. The text wrapping around the mouse�s whiskers and body is not perfect, but certainly better than if it had been left square.

Putting the authors above the title is a bit of a risk. It works because the title is set in very large type. Plus, the lightened band of colour under the title makes it higher contrast, thus keeping the title the focus of attention.

I would have liked to have seen a little more consistency in the headings� size. The �Results� heading is larger than the others. Plus, the headings in the text don't match those in the title.

The poster is meant to be read in rows, which is clearly indicated by the use of changing green backgrounds to group the rows together. The green seems to have been selected because many of the micrographs showing in the results are green. I worry about the green being a little dark, however, particularly the first row containing the introduction.

The width of the �Conclusions� section is less than ideal. Typesetters aim for 10-12 words per line of text, and these are at least double that. One solution might be to split the �Conclusions� box into two: one �Conclusions,� then a second that says, �Next step,� and highlights the last line.

Irena wrote:

I received a lot of attention and a few compliments, with one comment describing it as �better than any grad student�s poster I�ve seen� (I�m a high schooler, so that comment was especially appreciated).

Those compliments are deserved. This poster hits most of the marks you want in a conference poster, and avoids most of the pratfalls that you don�t want.

Kamis, 28 Agustus 2014

Latest modern science | Link roundup for August 2014 - Si Bejo Science

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�Only one idea.� Although this post from Terry McGlynn is about giving oral presentations, I think there is something to apply to posters, too:

When I gave the talks that (at least I suspect) kicked butt... They were all short on data and they only had one idea. ... I intentionally pared back on the data and the overarching research agenda. I just wanted to speak to an idea and wasn�t too concerned about how it made it me look. And, it turned out, the result was that people thought I gave a really good talk.

Kamis, 21 Agustus 2014

Latest modern science | Critique: Megafauna - Si Bejo Science

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This week�s poster is from Benjamin Seliger, and is used with his permission. Click to enlarge... or perhaps I should say, �megasize.�

I would stop at this poster if I saw it at a conference. There is much to like about the design. The visuals are very strong and very prominent. I love the pictures of the megafauna, the plants, and the maps. There is not too much text.

This poster accidentally demonstrates the power of proximity and white space. When I glanced at this poster, I thought, �This is a very nice two column layout.� But I should have thought, �This is a nice two row layout.� This poster is meant to be read across first, not down, which is the opposite of what I thought from a glance.

I am supposed to see the poster elements in this grouping:

But instead I see this grouping:

The problem arises because there is a wide, generous margin between the columns, but almost none between the rows. We group things that are close together. The authors have tried to signal that these are in rows using horizontal dividers, but the �signal� from the wide margin in the middle is completely overpowering that from those skinny little lines.

That the headings are not that much bigger in size than the subheadings is not helping matters. Compare the size of �The data� to �Joshua tree� underneath it. The �Joshua tree� and �Honey mesquite� subheadings are reinforcing that this is a two column layout instead of a two row layout. I also wonder if flipping the text position (above the animal picture, but below the plant picture in the top row) is contributing.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. Make the margins between the rows bigger than the divisions between the columns. Here�s a quick and dirty revision:

Margins beat lines and boxes in signalling the organization of your material.

Kamis, 14 Agustus 2014

Latest modern science | Critique: Protein simulations - Si Bejo Science

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I was asked to look over this poster (click to enlarge). Now, this is a draft poster, so some of the large empty spots are deliberately empty, because the data were not in when the draft was tweeted to me.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate photographic backgrounds on posters? I can�t recall ever seeing one that was effective. If the image is good enough and recognizable enough to show, why would you cover is up with text and data?

The gray photo background picked here is a recipe for disaster. The text is hard to read already, and the gray background will make it almost impossible to read at an distance. It�ll be worse if lighting is dim.

Even if the bothersome background is removed, I doubt this poster will pass the arm�s length test. The main text � and to a lesser degree, the headings � on this poster would both benefit from being bigger. This might require some judicious killing of darlings, but the poster will be better for it. One thing that might help is to make the acknowledgements smaller (make it �fine print�) so the conclusions can be bigger. The conclusions are more important, and one way to signal that is how much space it takes up on the page.

I don�t know what�s going on with that blue thing in the middle of the title bar, apart from it distracting me from the title, and making the title harder to read.

The colours in the methods flowchart seem to be picked almost at random. Kuler is a very useful too for picking harmonious colours.

While I can�t tell for certain with this low res image, but it looks like a lot of things aren�t aligned. The heading boxes definitely do not line up with the images in the lower left.

Kamis, 07 Agustus 2014

Latest modern science | Critique: P7C3 - Si Bejo Science

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Bhavna Guduguntla asked if I could help a friend with this poster (click to enlarge):

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that your title (headline) is 90% of your communication effort. This poster would benefit greatly by taking that one board. The title here is probably one of the least visible things on this poster, for two reasons.

First, it�s competing with a bunch of logos, which are sitting in the poster�s prime real estate: the upper right corner.

Second, the title is thin white text on a light gray background. Those facts alone make the title inconspicuous, but it�s made even worse because it�s surrounded by several black elements: one of the logos, and the authors� last names. Your eyes are drawn to the highest contrast elements, and it�s not the title. And darn it, you should see the title.

I like the way the authors� last names are set in black. The last names on a scientific poster are important, because scientific papers are normally referenced by last names. If the names were properly subordinate to the title, this would be an nice design choice.

The main text looks crowded and ill-chosen. The boxes have so much text that the words seem ready to burst out of their boxes. Then, the text is sometimes centered, and sometimes left aligned. Consistency always helps give the appearance of considered, ordered decisions, which is what you want for a research poster. Stick to one format for all text!

The molecule between the two columns is distracting. It sits uncomfortably between the introduction and the data, but doesn�t clearly belong to either section. It�s also crushing up against those other sections.

There are two columns in the middle of the poster: �Log� and �Activity�. I am wondering if these are supposed to be one table? If so, they should touch, and not have a solid band of the background colour between them. Tables are generally not the best way to show data, and I wonder if there is any way to show that as a graph.

I am worried that the graphs at the bottom ones will be hard to see. They are on a coloured background, which reduces their contrast and visibility immediately. And the situation is made worse by the very fine lines used for the graph.

Kamis, 31 Juli 2014

Latest modern science | Link roundup for July 2014 - Si Bejo Science

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Posters need not just be paper. Louise Hughes made good use of her 3-D printer. This picture by Sam Barry, with a hat tip to Biochem Belle.

More than a few conferences have restrictions about photographing posters. Richard Pearse has something to say about it. The society seems to support him. Hat tip to B. Haas.

This Nature news article about the drafting of a consensus statement on Earth�s tipping point for politicians. It unexpectedly takes a turn that highlights the importance of design:

(California governor Jerry) Brown wanted it classic looking, not flashy or cluttered. They went back and forth on formatting, even where to put the signatures. And the font was key. Brown wanted a simple clear font, Franklin Gothic, with the words �scientific consensus� highlighted in red.

Hat tip to Aerin Jacon. Franklin Gothic image from here.

Terry McGlynn reflects on how to have conversations at conferences. His take home message (his emphasis):

A conversation should never be a mere placeholder.

SlideProof claims it �Spots any kind of inconsistencies. SlideProof identifies wrong font types, sizes or colours. It checks for alignment, margins and bullet types and even detects of wrong page numbers and many more.� is Given how many people create their posters in PowerPoint, this piece of software might be valuable. Hat tip to Chris Atherton.

Although Apple has tended to get the most acclaim for its attention to type, Microsoft and Google have both done a lot of very interesting work over the years. Google�s most recent type project is an overhaul of its typeface Roboto. Hat tip to Ellen Lupton.

(T)ype has become one of the hardest working elements in today�s interfaces, which have been stripped of ornamentation in order to create breathing room for the increasingly complex functions they have to perform.

The case against the bar graph and other summary statistics. The summaries of the data below are the same, but the distribution is quite different. This is the same argument made by Anscombe�s quartet.