Accurate but appealing: How our scientific copywriters and designers collaborate to create captivating content

Written by Marjoke Le Roy 

The life sciences landscape is vast, complex, and rapidly changing, so it can be hard to navigate. Valuable knowledge and ground-breaking innovations can be buried because people are forced to dissect complex content to find what they really want to know.

But when science is beautifully portrayed for everyone to comprehend there’s no need for a dissection kit. Our experienced scientific copywriters and designers work closely together to achieve just that. By accompanying compelling stories with captivating design, they paint a scientific picture that clearly showcases your complex innovations to your audience of choice.

In this article, we guide you through the process taken by our copywriters and design team to create scientifically accurate but visually appealing schematics, logos, and scientific illustrations that help you stand out.

The collaboration

  1. Understanding the client and subject
The first and one of the most important steps we take before we begin designing is for our copywriters and designers to understand the client and their subject area. From developing lab equipment to neurological diseases and pharmaceuticals, our clients are involved in various areas of life sciences. Our copywriters review the client’s current website and social media content, and communicate closely with the company experts to understand their needs and aspirations for content creation. Their curiosity drives them to research thoroughly to ensure scientific accuracy, and their creativity allows them to find the right angle to help our designers create accurate and compelling designs.

All of our copywriters are scientific graduates from top European universities. They are equipped with varying academic experience, from master’s degrees to high-level postdoctoral knowledge, offering unique, in-depth, and complementary perspectives difficult to find elsewhere.

Our scientific copywriters brief our designers on what the client does, what their philosophy is, and their desired outcome (as mentioned in our previous article). Starting from the client’s needs, our designers use their creative expertise to make designs that are even better than the client imagined.

For one client we were tasked with creating a visual identity for a large biotech project. While it would have been easy to take the obvious route and make a logo directly out of the scientific elements they use, our copywriters and designers got together to brainstorm some more abstract elements and different colors to give the project a more dynamic feel, which also fits our client’s personality. When two options were presented to the client – the one they were expecting and our more novel idea – they were delighted to choose the second. The story behind the visuals made sense which they could get behind and proudly show it off.

  1. Identifying the story and audience
Crystal clear design is driven by a good story. Every project, innovation, or breakthrough has an interesting story hidden within, regardless of its perceived complexity. Our copywriters uncover that story and put it in sharp focus for our designers to harness it to its full potential.

This process also heavily depends on the target audience of the client. Is it scientific professionals with prior knowledge, the general public, or investors? Identifying the person most likely to benefit from or purchase your product or services allows our copy team and designers to create tailored content at the right level for the right reader. With a background in and passion for science, our copywriters understand what makes a great, inspiring story that drives customer action for different audiences. From case studies showcasing your happy clients to whitepapers solving complex technical problems (and so much more), our copywriters have you covered. From colorful science infographics to sleek scientific posters, our designers adjust their style to your needs, matching your brand.

  1. Reading, editing, and reading again
There’s no writing without reading. Every text is edited by multiple copywriters to check for spelling, clarity, and overall quality. They verify if all the essential information is present. When everyone agrees… we read it again! Then the story is communicated to the designers for them to make an eye-catching image.

The essential role of design: making hard science soft on the eyes

Designers have an invaluable role in bringing clarity and readability to a story. Using colors, figures and styles, they shape the feeling and significance of any message. The most successful scientific content incorporates great design. So, to reach a broad audience, you need eye-catching visuals or schematics that resonate with the public.

  1. Choosing a creative but professional style

In scientific design, choosing a style is not as straightforward as simply choosing what colors or patterns we like. First of all, we need to make sure people recognize the client at first glance; the style should correspond with the existing brand of the client. Good designers have an instinctive feeling of what fits a brand and what doesn’t. Secondly, our designers keep up with current trends, incorporating fresh ideas in their scientific designs. Lastly, scientific design should balance creative, out-of-the-box ideas with a professional appearance. Clients often create products or services which greatly impact people’s lives. A design reflecting serious topics should be soft and clear, not too playful and dazzling.

  1. Designing a clean and good-looking product

Now, the magic happens, copy and design are combined into a beautiful and coherent unit that resonates with people and requires minimal effort to understand. Communication done by non-professionals tends to cram as much information as possible into a small space using a lot of different colors, which can be overwhelming. Using white space between text and choosing the right colors can make all the difference in getting a clean-looking product that clearly portrays your science. Are you looking for a hand to design your scientific story? QbD Business & Communications has an experienced team dedicated to making accurate but appealing content in the life science sector. Contact us to find out how we can help you!