Graphic Design for Scientists (@KIT)
Graphic design is increasingly important to scientists. A nicely presented graphic can make detailed information easier to understand, or more appealing. Or simply provide a ‘way in’ for a different audience.
Join Graphic Designer Neil Smith for this 1.5 day course and learn more about how to visually present your science, from simple graphs and schematics to graphic abstracts and posters. You will have an introduction to graphic design and learn simple tips to improve your figures, with examples of good (and bad) presented. You will also recieve an introduction to Adobe Illustrator, the industry standard software used to design figures at the top publishing houses. Neil will be on hand to provide guidance and feedback on your existing and current work in this informal workshop. Time will also be made for one-to-one help.
Please note that this workshop is limited to 12 participants and exclusive for EES Academy Affiliates! Please register below by latest 20th November 2026.
Day 1
- Welcome talk: creating better figures
- Preparing a figure for publication: looking through your figures
- Adobe Illustrator/Affinity talk and demonstration
- Adobe Illustrator introductory software training
- Task: using your new found skills to ‘fix’ some figures
Day 2
- Welcome and a theory recap
- Adobe Illustrator recap and training
- Designing better posters talk and analysis
- Personal branding chat and excercise; one-to-one help in 15 minute slots
The Trainer
Neil Smith trained at Elsevier Science before spending 5 years at Nature working as an Illustrator and Graphic Designer. Since then, he has been a freelancer, working for Nature, The Lancet, The MIT Press, Workman Publishing and many more. Neil has run annual Graphic Design for Science workshops at Edinburgh University and Imperial College London for the last 6 years.
Neil Smith (https://neilsmithillustration.co.uk)
Date & Location
This workshop will take place on Thursday, 26th and Friday, 27th November 2026 at the following location (in-person):
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Materialwissenschaftliches Zentrum für Energiesysteme (MZE)
Straße am Forum 7
Bldg. 30.48, Meeting Room 018
76131 Karlsruhe
