So you've done the hard work of running countless experiments, sifting through confusing data, and spending thousands of dollars in pursuit of the cure to "big disease" or elucidation of "poorly understood." But now you need to take your story and boil it down to something manageable. Something comprehensive, yet simple enough for even your aunt — or, worse, reviewer #3 — to understand. 

You need a graphical summary that will impress the editors at the Journal of High Impact Factor and dazzle at conferences. But here's what you shouldn't do: fire up Powerpoint. The reason is that scientists are humans, too, and they are just as susceptible to having aesthetics color their supposedly objective opinion. So, what you need then is a beautiful figure to go along with your beautiful data or beautiful writing.