Illustrating Complex Science Stories

Editorial Illustration, Photography, and Moving Images

By Jen Christiansen / 4 minute read

When it comes to science visuals, static information graphics are not always the right solution. Graphics can be a great way to convey specific information in a concise manner. But they’re rarely the best solution as the opening image for a story, for example. An editorial illustration or photograph can be a more effective way to capture people’s attention, pique their curiosity, and entice them to engage more fully with the article’s content.

Michael Mrak, creative director at Scientific American, notes that “[editorial] illustrations can be used to convey broader concepts about a specific subject and can address parts of nature that may not be able to be seen or that are difficult to show. … You can’t send a photographer to a black hole or to see how the quantum realm works, but you can get an artist to envision how they might work or appear.” 

When commissioning editorial illustrations, Olena Shmahalo, art director of Quanta Magazine, writes: “I don’t look exclusively for artists who seem comfortable with science — I’d rather hire an artist who’s great at what they do, and I’ll help them with the scientific or mathematical aspects as needed.” In order to set everyone up for success, however, she recommends that editors “ask questions until you understand [the scientific concept at hand] — especially because if you don’t understand, it’s likely the reader won’t either!” That said, “take care not to become a ‘pair of hands’ for the researcher or author you’re working with. … Sometimes those closest to the material want to relay absolutely everything about it in great detail and can be persistent about everything being ‘just so,’” losing sight of the main takeaway.

Bill Douthitt, photography managing editor at Science magazine, notes that certain types of stories lend themselves to photography over illustration — profiles, stories in which the protagonist is going on a trip of some kind, and accounts of fieldwork that can affordably be covered.

Ernie Mastroianni, formerly photo editor at Discover magazine, says the decision to use photography should be made as early as possible. “If we have a personality-driven feature story, we need to develop a concept, hire a photographer, and do the shoot when the subject is either in place at an academic institution or doing fieldwork. … We don’t want to find out that the subject left the archaeological site just a week prior to our query.”

• Logistics: Video really benefits from being considered at the outset of a project rather than as an add-on. Video is time-consuming — and even if you can quickly acquire it, the post-production process can be complicated. Video may also require field reporting and additional technical skills, depending on what is to be visualized. So a decision about including video should be made as early as possible, when choices about how best to focus the filming or video-asset collection can be made while the reporting plan is still being conceptualized.
• Sourcing: Researchers make more video these days, sometimes as part of the actual science, sometimes as a sort of diary of the process. You should be prepared to leverage this kind of work in your reporting if it is of sufficient quality, and if it actually documents the processes you are reporting on. This could be anything from GoPro footage to extremely slow motion (high frame rate) video. These can be compelling additions, when used appropriately and contextually. But you probably will not know that they exist if you never ask your sources.
• Story goals: Video can excel at visualizing complicated scientific processes and augmenting the story experience. But it can also complete for reader attention and sometimes just tread the same narrative steps as the story. Doing so is a waste. Video should work in harmony with the text, pictures, and audio components, not simply mimic them.

The most important question to answer, DelViscio argues, is “Does this story need or significantly benefit from video?” Only experience will help you develop these video reflexes, so don’t be afraid to experiment, which means you will sometimes try things that don’t work. To help guide your decisions, follow his checklist: