This repo aims to helps users create pretty figures for publication or presentation following basic graphic design guidelines. I will only take requests that benefit the community. I may share workflow tips for Blender/Adobe Illustrator if needed. Feel free to tweak and contribute via pull requests!
If you use this work, please let me know by email or any other means---I'll be glad to hear it's being put to good use!
Just some compilation of tips, tricks and stuff that I found over the years of making scientific figures and presentations. I will try to keep it updated as I learn new things, but don't expect much either
This repository is organized by graphic design aspects, allowing users to focus on specific sections of interest. For those seeking only boilerplates or example files, these can be accessed directly without consulting the tutorials.
I am not going to go over the basics of graphic design much. The only two things that I want to emphasize are:
- Learn how to use a color wheel.
- Make sure you understand the meaning of color (e.g., red = bad, green = good, blue = calm/modern, etc.). So don't use a red color for something you want to highlight as good.
- Learn how to use a grid.
- Know that not everybody sees things like you, and make sure your design is inclusive and accessible for color blindness. Use tools (pranatopia or deuteranopia mode in Adobe Illustrator) and do not solely rely on solid curves.
Beyond that, if there are some things that are of interest, I highly recommend the following resources (and if you know me, you can probably ask me to borrow a copy of the books):
- Basic knowledge of graphic design:
- The elements of graphic design by Alex W. White
- Beautiful Evidence by Edward Tufte
- Layout and structure
- Making and Breaking the Grid, Third Edition: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop
- Grid Systems by Josef Müller-Brockmann
- Color Theory
- Interaction of Color by Josef Albers
- Color by Betty Edwards
- Color Index by Jim Krause
- Just the Panton book to be honest, and browse it when you need to
- Psychology of graphic design
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk
- The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
- Book of branding by Radim Malinic
- Scientific Display
- The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte
- Typography
- Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
- The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Here is a compilation of some tips and tricks for plotting, tweaking, and creating figures for scientific publication.
Here are some tips for creating a slide deck, where you can use Beamer (a LaTeX version of PowerPoint) or how to set your Adobe Illustrator figure for easy transition in a slide deck.