Design for Academics

Whether it’s explaining complex ideas to non-specialists, tailoring outputs for different audiences, or creating a consistent visual identity across multiple projects, academics can gain significant value from effective design.

At a dozen eggs, we’ve worked across research projects, student recruitment, and the development of personal brands for academics. If you think we could support you but aren’t sure where to begin, we’d love to hear from you.

Increase research visibility and impact

Communicating research requires balancing immediate clarity, giving audiences that sense of ‘this makes intuitive sense’, with the opportunity to explore more complex ideas in depth. Thoughtful branding of projects or researchers can make work more accessible and appealing, increasing the chances of media coverage. In turn, this heightened visibility can lead to higher citations, downloads, and overall research impact, which is particularly important within frameworks such as the REF.

Attract funding and partnerships

A recognisable identity makes it easier to win grants, build collaborations, and develop industry partnerships. From polished reports that clearly articulate research, to data visualisations that clarify key messages, and animations that bring future directions to life, design helps position researchers as leaders in their field. High-quality design outputs ultimately signal professionalism and credibility to funders and external partners.

Strengthen reputation and career progression

When academics are known for a clear message or a defined niche, they can quickly position themselves as the go‑to expert in their field. Using design and branding to sharpen and communicate that message makes it easier for different audiences to grasp, while the process of distilling ideas into their essence often strengthens them, not by oversimplifying, but by bringing clarity. This clarity, in turn, can open the door to speaking opportunities, media coverage, and greater influence.

Improve communication of complex research

One of the main reasons academics come to us is to improve how they communicate complex research. Visual approaches such as infographics, diagrams, and data visualisations help simplify intricate ideas, making them more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Animation adds a powerful storytelling dimension, allowing researchers to guide the narrative more deliberately. Whether working with transcripts, facilitating co-design projects, or distilling extensive research into concise two-minute animations, thoughtful visual design brings clarity to complexity and broadens understanding.

Engage broader audiences

Often, design for academic audiences can be suitably complex and highly detailed. However, in other contexts, its role is to bring clarity — helping broader audiences quickly grasp key ideas without lengthy explanation. Visual tools such as graphical abstracts and animation can also enhance online sharing and reach. In public-facing work, the aim is to communicate the central thread, the key highlights, so people can understand the research quickly and intuitively.

The team at a dozen eggs were fantastic to work with. A continual challenge in research is to distil and visualise complicated scientific concepts, such as pressure waves, into something that non-technical people could grasp instantly. This was something the team executed brilliantly. The simple, clear, but informative animations they produced were used by many of the major news outlets when they covered the research, showing just how effective the animations were. The process, the level of engagement, and enthusiasm from the team, was brilliant throughout. The resources they produced have added significant value and clarity to our technical communications and PR activities.

Create consistency across diverse work

Because of the way funding structures operate, academics often work across a wide range of projects, which can gradually dilute a clear, coherent narrative. Branding helps bring these strands together, creating a unified story across different outputs, roles, and research areas. A well-considered personal brand can connect past and future work, making diverse projects feel part of a cohesive and recognisable whole.