Scientific illustration is an art used to represent scientific fact or idea or both. using this method, artists draw images of scientific subjects in an accurate way to inform and communicate the main idea of the topic.
The final project consists of finding a research paper or scientific fact related to chemistry and understanding it and drawing an image summarizing the idea, experiment, and procedure used in the research idea. Please upload your illustration in a high-resolution image with minimum text.
Ten tips for great scientific illustrations
- Know your audience.
Don’t illustrate what they already know, clarify what they don’t. - Tell your story. Started here (hunch), did this (experiments), and ended up somewhere
(conclusions). Keep the components (colors, shapes, views, etc.) consistent from
illustration to illustration. - Create interest and stimulate the imagination.
- Control: move the reader through the illustration
Left to right, top to bottom. - Color: only when necessary, use it to direct focus.
- Humor: but only if appropriate to the subject matter.
- Human: add a face, hand, body, etc. humans love to see humans.
- New ideas: require simple illustrations.
Let the idea take focus not the illustration. - Technical text = technical graphic, add parts or sections to clarify.
- In general, never use the defaults, they are always WRONG!
Never hesitate to invest in good graphics. They pay for themselves by clarifying your research and
data to those around you.