Beyond pretty pictures; the art (and science of designing engaging graphics) with author-illustrator and science communicator Lucía Perez-Díaz

Clear, compelling science graphics are not created by software proficiency alone, nor by mastering a few graphic design principles. This workshop series goes beyond the technical aspects of making figures to explore how people actually see, process, interpret and remember visual information (and how we can use that knowledge to communicate science more effectively). This is a workshop series about communicating through graphics, not simply making them. Whether the goal is a scientific paper, conference presentation, classroom, outreach activity or public-facing story, participants will learn how to turn complex scientific ideas into visuals that help people understand, think and engage.

This workshop series will take place on the 7, 14, 21 and 28 October, 13:00-14:00 CEST. The sessions will be divided as follows:

• Session 1 - Seeing Why do geosciences need visual communication in the first place? This session explores how graphics help us understand invisible processes, complex systems, spatial relationships and change over time. Participants will discover how the brain processes visual information, including attention, saliency, cognitive load, recognition and recall, and how people construct mental models from what they see. 
• Session 2: Choosing Knowing how people process information is useful only if we can turn that knowledge into design decisions. This session focuses on defining what a graphic is actually trying to communicate, controlling visual hierarchy, reducing unnecessary cognitive load and deciding what deserves to be shown and what does not. The aim is not to make science “simpler”, but to make it easier to understand without losing what matters.
• Session 3: Making A good graphic rarely appears fully formed on the first attempt. This session focuses on the creative process behind scientific visualisation: sketching as a way of thinking, exploring multiple visual solutions, choosing between maps, diagrams, charts, schematics and sequences, and using metaphor and analogy to make invisible systems thinkable. Participants will experiment with rapid, low-fidelity ideas and learn to treat visualisation as a process of exploration of their own ideas and knowledge.
• Session 4: Testing How do we know whether a graphic actually works? This session focuses on testing, critique and iteration, with an emphasis on interpretation rather than aesthetics. The session also considers how graphics can become part of the research process itself, as tools for thinking and analysis, rather than something created only at the end, and for the benefit of others.

Places for this FREE workshop are limited to 30 people. Only EGU Members can apply to participate in these workshops and places are limited so please cancel any reservations that you are unable to keep by emailing the EGU Outreach Committee. For any additional questions, please contact  the EGU Outreach Committee.

Need help?

If you have any questions about the workshop "Outreach Committee workshop - Beyond pretty pictures", please contact us via webinars@egu.eu.

Workshop

Outreach Committee workshop - Beyond pretty pictures

Start time

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:00 CET

Duration

ca. 1h 00m

Contact

webinars@egu.eu