scientific-skills/scientific-slides/references/slide_design_principles.md
Effective slide design enhances comprehension, maintains audience attention, and ensures your scientific message is communicated clearly. This guide covers visual hierarchy, typography, color theory, layout principles, and accessibility considerations for creating professional scientific presentations.
The Fundamental Rule: Each slide should communicate ONE main idea.
Why It Matters:
Application:
Example Comparison:
BAD: Single slide with:
- 3 different graphs
- 8 bullet points
- 2 tables
- Dense caption text
GOOD: Three separate slides:
- Slide 1: First graph with 2-3 key points
- Slide 2: Second graph with interpretation
- Slide 3: Summary table with highlighted finding
Guide attention to the most important elements through size, color, and position.
Hierarchy Levels:
Techniques:
Size:
Color:
Position:
Weight:
Maintain visual consistency throughout the presentation.
Elements to Keep Consistent:
Benefits:
Template Approach:
Recommended Font Types:
Sans-Serif Fonts (Highly Recommended):
Serif Fonts (Use Sparingly):
Avoid:
Minimum Readable Sizes:
The Room Test:
Size Relationships:
Title: 40pt
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Subheading: 28pt
─────────────
Body text: 24pt
Regular content for audience
Caption: 16pt
Best Practices:
Line Length:
Line Spacing:
Alignment:
Emphasis:
Guideline: Maximum 6 bullets per slide, maximum 6 words per bullet.
Rationale:
Better Approach:
Example Transformation:
TOO MUCH TEXT:
• Our study examined the relationship between dietary interventions
and cardiovascular outcomes in 1,500 participants over 5 years
• We found that participants in the intervention group showed
significantly reduced risk compared to controls
• The effect size was larger than previous studies and persisted
at long-term follow-up
BETTER:
• 5-year dietary intervention study
• 27% reduced cardiovascular risk
• Largest effect to date
Purpose-Driven Color Selection:
Professional/Academic (Conservative):
Modern/Engaging (Energetic):
High Contrast (Maximum Legibility):
Data Visualization (Color-blind Safe):
Blue:
Green:
Red/Orange:
Purple:
Gray:
WCAG Standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines):
High Contrast Combinations:
Low Contrast Combinations (Avoid):
Testing Contrast:
Prevalence: ~8% of men, ~0.5% of women have color vision deficiency
Most Common: Red-green color blindness (protanopia/deuteranopia)
Safe Practices:
Color-Blind Safe Palettes:
Primary: Blue (#0173B2)
Contrast: Orange (#DE8F05) [NOT green]
Additional: Magenta (#CC78BC), Teal (#029E73)
Figure Design:
Divide slide into 3×3 grid; place key elements at intersections or along lines.
Application:
+-------+-------+-------+
| ┃ | ┃ | ┃ |
|---●---|---●---|---●---| ← Key focal points (●)
| ┃ | ┃ | ┃ |
|---●---|---●---|---●---|
| ┃ | ┃ | ┃ |
|---●---|---●---|---●---|
| ┃ | ┃ | ┃ |
+-------+-------+-------+
Benefits:
Example Usage:
Definition: Empty space around and between elements.
Purpose:
Guidelines:
Common Mistakes:
Title + Content:
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Slide Title │
├─────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Content Area │
│ (text, figure, │
│ or combination) │
│ │
└─────────────────────────┘
Use: Standard slide type, most common
Two Column:
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Slide Title │
├───────────┬─────────────┤
│ │ │
│ Text │ Figure │
│ Column │ Column │
│ │ │
└───────────┴─────────────┘
Use: Comparing items, text + figure
Full-Slide Figure:
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ │
│ Large Figure or │
│ Image │
│ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────┘
Use: Key results, impactful visuals
Text Overlay:
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ ┌─────────────┐ │
│ │ Text Box │ │
│ └─────────────┘ │
│ Background Image │
│ │
└─────────────────────────┘
Use: Title slide, section dividers
Grid Layout:
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Title │
├─────────┬───────┬───────┤
│ Item 1 │ Item 2│ Item 3│
├─────────┼───────┼───────┤
│ Item 4 │ Item 5│ Item 6│
└─────────┴───────┴───────┘
Use: Multiple related items, comparisons
Principle: Align elements to create visual order and relationships.
Types:
Edge Alignment:
Center Alignment:
Grid Alignment:
Visual Impact:
Best Practices:
Light Backgrounds (Most Common):
Advantages:
Dark Backgrounds:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Gradient Backgrounds:
Image Backgrounds:
Minimal Approach (Recommended):
Selective Borders:
Avoid:
Purpose:
Best Practices:
Sources:
Bullet Styles:
List Best Practices:
Alternative to Bullets:
Uses:
Guidelines:
Appropriate Uses:
Inappropriate Uses:
Entrance:
Exit:
Emphasis:
Builds:
Best Practices:
Too Much Text:
Too Many Concepts per Slide:
Inconsistent Formatting:
Poor Contrast:
Tiny Fonts:
Cluttered Slides:
Low-Quality Images:
Distracting Backgrounds:
Overuse of Effects:
Misaligned Elements:
Insufficient Contrast:
Too Many Colors:
Red-Green Combinations:
Clashing Colors:
Visual Impairments:
Color Blindness:
Cognitive Considerations:
Presentation Environment:
For Figures:
For Complex Visuals:
Before creating slides:
Design 4-6 slide layouts:
For each slide:
Review checklist:
PowerPoint:
Keynote (Mac):
Google Slides:
LaTeX Beamer:
Color Tools:
Icon Sources:
Inspiration:
Before finalizing your slide design:
Typography:
Color:
Layout:
Visual Elements:
Accessibility:
Professional Polish: