Visual Storytelling for Scientific

IllustrationBy Diego Pitta de Araujo

Visual Storytelling

for Scientific Illustration

Diego Pitta de Araujo

Scientific Illustrator/Animator

Mechanobiology Institute - NUS

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Visual Storytelling

for Scientific Illustration

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Note

Unless otherwise stated, the images in this presentation

belong to the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) – National

University of Singapore.

Permission to use MBI’s images can be granted upon

request by e-mail.

- Elements of a story

- Creativity as a method

- Context & World Building

- Subtext

Contents

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

- Creating your own visuals

- Choosing your visuals from a source

- Discussing a commission with the artist

Thinking and Creation Processes

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

- Graphical Abstracts

- Editorial Images (magazine illustration)

- Design Project Presentation

- Infographics

- Banners and Posters

- DESIGN IDEAS

Types of Visuals

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

What is Visual Storytelling?

My higher calling is to serve the story… I never just

make images. The images are there to tell stories.

- Iain McCaig

a.k.a. Narrative Illustration

My higher calling is to serve the story… I never just

make images. The images are there to tell stories.

- Iain McCaig

Just making an image

Telling a story

After so many adventures and misadventures, Azure and

Crimson where finally reaching

the Old Stationary City.

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Just making an image

5nm

DyneinKinesin Myosin

Motor Proteins

Telling a story

Just making an image

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Zhenyuanlong suni

Telling a story

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

“How do I transform

information / data into

an image?”

“How do I put the idea

in my head on the

paper?”

Within the constraints

of time and space of

the medium

WHAT

&

HOW

do I “tell a visual story”

that will be meaningful

for my audience?

- Elements of a story

- Creativity as a method

- Context & World Building

- Subtext

Characters

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Characters Events

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Characters Events Places /

Environments

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

“I NEED A GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT”

We did research on…

- Salmonella (bacteria): Can invade tissue/cell and

cause disease or can form a biofilm and stay “inactive”

inside the host

We perfomed this experiments…

- Feed C. elegans (roundworm) with Salmonella

- Mutant Salmonella that does not form biofilm

- Wild Salmonella that forms biofilm

We found out that…

- Biofilm formation can reduce the health of

C. elegans

- Invasive Salmonella greatly reduces health

of C. elegans

Characters Events Places /

Environments

C. elegans

Salmonella

Characters Events Places /

Environments

C. elegans

Salmonella

C. elegans feeds

on Salmonella

Salmonella

forms a Biofilm

Salmonella

invades tissue

Characters Events Places /

Environments

C. elegans

Salmonella

C. elegans gut

Petri dish

C. elegans feeds

on Salmonella

Salmonella

forms a Biofilm

Salmonella

invades tissue

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

Who, what, Where?

Characters

Events

Places /

Environments

Events

Places /

Environments

Who / What /

Where?

Characters

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

What is

MORE IMPORTANT

in your story?

What is your focal point?

- Where do you want the reader to look at?

≠

What is the “take home message”?

- What lessons should the reader learn from your paper?

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

Your story has a main character

BUT

Focal point can be the PLACE he/she/it is at

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

Characters Events

Salmonella

C. elegans gut

C. elegans feedson Salmonella

C. elegans Petri dish

Salmonella

forms a Biofilm

Salmonella

invades tissue

Places /

Environments

© Mechanobiology Institute -

NUS

- Elements of a story

- Creativity as a method

- Context & World Building

- Subtext

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Creating an Editorial Image

The original title of the paper

selected for the cover:

Mechanical stimulation induces

formin-dependent assembly of

a perinuclear actin rim

Creativity Tip: make associations! Create metaphors that can

fit inside the context of your story. It must preserve some

elements of the story.

Creating an Editorial Image

Magazine project for MBI

Compilation of 1 year of

written features on

published papers by the

Institute.

Select a few articles for the

potential cover

Creativity Tip: Sketch!

Even the great masters

sketched a lot!

Leonardo Da Vinci’s study of a fetus in the womb (c. 1500).

Public Domain

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

Mechanical stimulation induces formin-dependent

assembly of a perinuclear actin rim

Professional Tip: It’s about teamwork. You are not the sole

creator of the art.

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

Nucleus

Actin (protein that forms

the “cell skeleton”)

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

Mechanical force applied

on cell surface

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

Calcium flow

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

Actin forms a “rim” around

the Nucleus

FORCES ACTING FAR AND WIDE

How local forces induce distant effects on actin remodelling

FORCE = abstract concept

“… the actin rim may act as a SHIELD to protect DNA from

Forces and stabilize nuclear functions.”

Photo by: Neil and Kathy Carey

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ncarey/144042243/

Licence CC BY-SA 2.0

The more you know about unrelated subjects, the

more associations you can make

- Elements of a story

- Creativity as a method

- Context & World Building

- Subtext

Context and World Building

I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit

(generally with meticulous care for distances).

- J. R. R. Tolkien

Photo and Illustration by: Deven Rue (Rue Ink)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rueink/36937538796

Licence CC BY 2.0

Context and World Building

Context: the situation in which something happens. It connects

the characters, the events and the environment.

World building: process of creating the “world” of your story.

Context and World Building

Actin shields nucleus when force is applied far away.

Context and World Building

Actin shields nucleus when force is applied far away.

Context and World Building

Actin shields nucleus when force is applied far away.

Focal Point

Scale: Molecular

Context and World Building

Actin shields nucleus when force is applied far away.

Scale: Cellular

Event far from

Focal Point

FOCAL POINT:Actin

(protein) protecting the

Nucleus

IMPORTANT EVENTS:

happen far from the Focal

Point.

Composition Tip: Divide

the “scene” in more than

one frame.

Composition Tip:

Sometimes you

can unify all

information in one

frame.

Cross Section or

Slice cuts on the

subject show both

External and

internal Parts

2m

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

2m

Descriptive projects (Taxonomy, Anatomy, Architectural

Design), usually deal with only one element of the

story, the CHARACTER or ENVIRONMENT/PLACE.

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Personal artwork by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Context and World Building

Personal photography by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Context and World Building

Personal photography by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Context and World Building

Personal photography by Diego Pitta de Araujo

Context and World Building

Is what gives sense to

the “world” in a story. It

makes it feel believable

even when it’s an

aimaginary world in

cartoon illustration.

Your story happens in a

bigger setting than itself.

World building consists of

building up that setting.

Creating a crowded cell world

that feels believable.

Artistic

representation

of the

information/data

Metaphorical

representation

of the

information/data

Artistic

representation

of the

information/data

Creativity tip: it is ok if there is

no room for creative

associations. You can still get an

appealing visual if you follow the

principles of design and

storytelling.

World building tip: it’s not about caring for every single detail…

Your world must be alive and dynamic, but unless it is a

zombie apocalypse story, it should not feel like one.

- Elements of a story

- Creativity as a method

- Context & World Building

- Subtext

Subtext

Subtext is what the viewer interprets but it’s not in the scene.

A girl takes a cup of water and drink it.

Subtext

A girl takes a cup of water and drink it.

She is thirsty.

Not written in the sentence.

Your interpretation of what made her drink water.

Subtext

Storytelling tip: details allow the viewer to imagine more than the

image shows.

These small details may prompt

the viewer to ask questions.

This is a great way to add that

extra information without having

to draw a whole new piece to

include it. Or even have to

overcrowd the illustration with

excess of information.

Let’s see all the principles applied on this infographics illustration

World building & Subtext

Main characters

Secondary Characters

Events

Environment

Context

The three proteins carrying balloons are

the main characters – they are on focus,

brighter and more colourful than other

elements in the environment – that makes

it easier for the viewer to distinguish them

and spot them immediately.

Others are secondary characters

– they are copies of the main

characters, since they are

proteins that occur in multiple

copies inside the cell. But they

are far away and out of focus.

World building & Subtext

ers

Main characters

Secondary Charact

Events

Environment

Context

Floating particles = ATP

molecules. Small little details

that add more information and

help build a believable world.

Characters are carrying these

balloons (cellular vesicles). Their

leg movements indicate that they

are going somewhere.

These structures build up the

environment and create the

pathways in which the

characters are walking on.

Other events going on create the

idea that the world is dynamic

and there are things happening

regardless of the immediate

events related to the main

characters.

WARNING

Storytelling details ≠Scientific precision &

accuracy

- Identify elements of a story: Characters / Events /

Places

- Use creative methods to design these elements and

composite your image

- Connect elements of the story with context. Give a

bigger context to everything with World Building.

- Add the little details that make

your elements more interesting

Wrap-up