Design Support

The Cushing/Whitney Medical Library offers free design assistance to students, faculty and staff at Yale and Yale New Haven Hospital who want to improve their visuals for presentations and publication. Clients can bring any visual work related to their research or teaching and receive help from our designers.  

We can help with: 

• academic posters 
• presentation slides 
• flowcharts and figures  
• video tutorials 

Self-Guided Learning 

• Visualizing Information: Designing Effective Posters and Figures (webinar) 
• How to Create an Academic Poster (email course) 
• Academic Poster Resources (guide) 
• Data Visualization (guide) 

Teaching 

We offer tailored instruction for your group via Zoom or in-person instruction. Examples of training include: 

• Designing Effective Academic Posters (45 mins) 
• Designing Video Tutorials (length varies) 

 Request a session for your group

Consultations 

By appointment only (see below for how to prepare) 

• Dana Haugh – for posters, slides, flowcharts, figures, illustrations 
• Caitlin Meyer - for video tutorials, slides 

Before the Consultation

Be prepared to briefly explain what your graphic/visual is supposed to do. Please come with answers to these questions: 

• Who is the audience for your visual? 
• What is the message that this visual must convey? 
• What is the most important aspect of the graphic? 
• What is the “takeaway message” for your audience? 

During the Consultation 

Bring the graphic or visual that you would like to improve.  

We will offer suggestions and recommendations that can help you to improve your visuals. We may also suggest resources (such as courses and tutorials) that can help. Sessions typically last about 20 - 40 minutes. 

What We Don’t Do 

Unless otherwise discussed, we will not redo the graphic for you. Also, while we are happy to answer software questions, we encourage you to explore LinkedIn Learning, Yale’s Workday Learning portal, and YouTube for product tutorials.