A guide to the visual analysis and communication of biomolecular structural data

To achieve effective visual communication of complex data, it is important that biologists identify the needs of their audience — whether they are peers or an outreach audience. This guide to the available wealth of resources, ranging from software tools to professional illustrators, should help researchers to generate better figures and presentations tailored to the needs of any audience. Biologists regularly face an increasingly difficult task — to effectively communicate bigger and more complex structural data using an ever-expanding suite of visualization tools. Whether presenting results to peers or educating an outreach audience, a scientist can achieve maximal impact with minimal production time by systematically identifying an audience's needs, planning solutions from a variety of visual communication techniques and then applying the most appropriate software tools. A guide to available resources that range from software tools to professional illustrators can help researchers to generate better figures and presentations tailored to any audience's needs, and enable artistically inclined scientists to create captivating outreach imagery.