"Other templates didn't necessarily ask you to think about what you were putting on them because they allowed it all," says Derek Crowe, a PhD student in biomedical genetics in Hucky Land's lab with a former career in visual communication and design, "In order to use Mike's layout though, my hand is forced."
With the new template, scientists need to think about their core message, but some people have a difficult time figuring out how to do that, or how to use visuals to present their message. Without proper science communication training, even a better poster template doesn't work.
Crowe has taken matters into his own hands. Not only does he teach a course on visual communication for scientists at the University of Rochester, but he also shared his poster design tips online. In a nod to Morrison's "better poster", Crowe's is a "butter poster". He provides step by step instructions on how to organize the poster, and how to think about the content in a visual way.
"Like the graphic novel did for literature, visual languages have the power to add more dimensions to scientific storytelling," says Crowe, "I'm excited to see what happens as the greater science community begins to take advantage of well-established visual storytelling tools."