Mein Workshop-Konzept
In three interactive workshops, scientists can learn how design principles can be used to explain science. Such that the reader receives the message – as a poster, conceptual illustration or data visualization.
The aim of my workshops is to open your eyes and train your perception by using many examples: what works? What not? Why? What are the design principles behind it that have been followed or disregarded? What does that mean for your own project?
Before we deal with what something should look like, let’s take a step further: in all of my workshops, my participants first work out what exactly they want to convey in terms of content. Because for me that is always the basis on which good visual science communication is built on: Whom do I want to say what?
- Duration: 2 days
- Participants: 12 max
- Contents:
- how to identify key message
- how to visualize it
- how to create a digital graphic
- design tipps and tricks
- Focus: conceptual figures and how to come up with a concept.
- Outcome: an individual graphical abstract for each participant
- Duration: 1 day
- Participants: 12 max
- Contents:
- determining the content
- setting the info limit
- organizing the content on A0
- design tipps and tricks
- Focus: academic posters that spark interest
- Outcome: an individual poster (draft) for each participant
- Duration: 1.5 days
- Participants: 12 max
- Contents:
- how we see (visual perception)
- how to choose diagrams
- design tipps and tricks
- discussion of participants’ figures
- Focus: data visualization
- Outcome: improved figures
What participants say:
The course gave me a systematic overview about building one’s own graphic abstract. It let me to take a step back and look at the figures in a different way and also get to know why the logic flow of graphic abstracts are often organized in certain structures.
One may need good drawing skills to make an amazing graphic abstract. But with so many general practical guidances and tips in this course (i.e. certain color combinations are definitely a no go), regardless of drawing skills and earlier experience with designing softwares, one can easily starts making one and in the end make a good graphic abstract.
The Graphical Abstracts workshop points out to universal truths on how to visualize the content of your work and effectively convey it to others. A highly important skill in Science Communication.
I learned both theoretical principles on what and how to visualize in my abstract, as well as practical software design skills. Dr. Berger’s methods include clear objectives, structured presentations, interactivity, and feedback. The earlier you attend the Graphical Abstracts workshop in your scientific career, the better!
Thank you for a great course – I wish I would have taken that course years ago, that would have saved me so much time!
This workshop was eye-opening, I will never see figures like I did before!
Thank you very much, Dr Berger!! It was a very helpful and easily digested workshop on designing graphical abstracts. The workshop does not only provide the attendees with basic and theoretical concepts about graphics such as visualisation strategies, colour parameters etc, but also it enables them to apply it practically, using Libre Software. I had the opportunity to work on my own graphical project and receive valuable feedback on how to ameliorate it. Although I am a beginner in the field of graphical design, the workshop made it look easy and made me curious to learn more and more about it.
To describe to course in one word: mind-boosting! I participated in a course lead by Dr. Susanne Berger within the Gießener Graduate School for Life Science. The most impression on me made the thinking process, which Dr. Susanne Berger taught us. Before the course I mostly knew graphical abstracts in one particular style: information overflow. During the class I discovered how to transform my research into an graphical abstract. The group works with Ms. Berger the other participants helped me in an structured way to choose which detail is important and which is redundant. Now I’m more attentive to transport my ideas in an understandable way to others.
Ich fand den Kurs sehr inspirierend und motivierend. Mir persönlich hat die Darbietungsform sehr gut gefallen. Mithilfe des außergewöhnlichen Präsentationsstils war es sehr angenehm und leicht, dem Kursinhalt zu folgen und sich gleichzeitig künstlerisch weiter zu entwickeln.
I especially liked that you implied learning principles. As a psychologist, I heard about learning principles in the first semester. But this is the first time that I attend a workshop where those principles are actually implied!
Clients
Since 2013 I give Workshops for SFBs, Graduate Academies and study programmes at universities including: