November 16, 2011

Visual Communication at ScienceOnline2012

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

There will be tons of stuff to do and learn about art, illustration, photography, data visualization and other ways of visually representing science and nature this year:

Science Scribe 2.0 (hands-on workshop, by sign-up ahead of time) - Perrin Ireland

Science Scribe 2.0 will be an introduction to visual note taking skills that can be used to augment and illuminate science stories. We will go over current examples of visual representations of science, learn techniques and practices for creating SketchNotes, and look at samples from the SketchNotes masters for tips on simple, clean ways to enhance science presentations. Participants will leave armed with a notebook, pens, and a new set of skills for visualizing science. Our goal for the conference is to crowd-source scribing - participants can volunteer to take SketchNotes for one or two presentations throughout the conference. We will then digitize these notes and feature them online as records of the conference and its contents.

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Effective Research and Nature Photography (hands-on workshop) - Enrique Gutierrez and Peyton Hale

Using examples of good (and not-so-good) photos, this workshop will cover topics ranging from basic rules for effective composition, strategies for controlling light and eliminating distractions, and basic photo processing. The session will be appropriate for photographers with any level of expertise, but heavily geared towards casual and amateur photographers.

Data visualization (hands-on workshop) - Ashley Yaeger

With the latest Web-based tools, turning numbers into art doesn't require a degree in computer science. Join this hands-on workshop to explore how to use data to report and tell stories visually using the latest tools, such as Google Fusion tables, to create data visualizations. Participants will break into groups and visualize a provided data set, while workshop leaders circulate to answer questions and give feedback and tips on best practices and design. What to bring: laptops with power supply.

Making Beautiful Maps (hands-on workshop) - Tim De Chant

Maps are a wonderful way to convey geographic information, but making them can seem like an intimidating task. In this session, we'll run through freely available GIS software, how to use it, and how to beautify the maps that they produce. For those looking to make even simpler maps, we'll also run through where to find free image files that can be easily color coded with free software. It's a straightforward and simple way without having to dive into GIS. The session will start with demos and lead to a discussion/Q&A about cartography and the role of maps in science writing. This session will be aimed at anyone interested in maps or geographic information.

Communicating with Images on Blogs (discussion) - Glendon Mellow and Emily Bauernfeind

This discussion will focus on improving images (illustration, photography, data viz) on blogs. Expanding on a session from SCIO09, you need not have attended the earlier session. In this session we will discuss and share:
--Why use images on your blog? What makes an image effective at communicating an idea?
--Where to find images (open-source, artists for hire; share your favourite places to find images)
--An overview of copyright and Creative Commons Licences and proper image credits (Note: "Image by Wikipedia" is um, not right)
--How to effectively re-size images so they don't cause your blog to load s l o w l y.
--Quick tutorial using free software (Gimp) Picnik? to show how to reduce image size.

Data Journalism: Talking the talk (hands-on workshop) - Ruth Spencer and Lena Groeger

We want this workshop to be first and foremost USEFUL to people, without requiring many in depth tutorials or technical explanations. One of the main hurdles on the adventure that is data journalism, is knowing just enough to be able to have a conversation with someone who can make your data dreams into data realities (read: programmers and developers). We're less interested in perfecting your program skills and much more keen to get you familiar with the tools and processes you need to get your big project off the ground. We'll explore how to get started and launch into a whirlwind tour through the (free!) resources for journalists looking to work with data. This will be less of a workshop and more of a crash course: What you need to know before you even know what you need to know (about data journalism).

Art and Science, 4.0 - Accurate, Personal and Powerful: commissioned Science-Art (discussion) - Glendon Mellow and Nathaniel Gold

Commissioned art and illustration have always been collaborative between the artist, the editor and the client. When science-art is commissioned, the added voice reality and scientific tradition enter the mix. How does this affect illustrations for publications? How does bad art affect public perception.? Just how many edits does a scientific journal demand, anyway? And what happens when science -art is commissioned to go on a scientist's wall, or on their skin?

Art+Photo Nature walk (hands-on workshop) - led by Kalliopi Monoyios, Perrin Ireland, A.V.Flox and Enrique Gutierrez

A group of attendees, previously signed up for this (info coming soon how to do this), will go out of the building and will find nature in the North Carolina January. They will bring their notebooks with markers, pencils or crayons, or their cameras, or iPhones, or iPads with preloaded Brushes app, and will try their hand at capturing the images of nature. If they are happy with their work, it will be uploaded on our site and shared with the online world.

Art Gallery (demo) - Glendon Mellow and Karyn Traphagen

Art, illustration, photography and SketchNotes submitted ahead of time (Glendon will provide more details later), or produced by the participants during the meeting, will be displayed on the screen in the main conference hallway. At least some of it will also be visible online.

Learn more:

Google Plus official page

Google Plus circle of participants