Advanced Materials Figures (advmat-figures)
When to trigger
- You have many candidate panels and need a coherent figure set
- Your lead figure does not convey the central advance at a glance
- Characterization panels are crowded, mislabeled, or unreadable at column width
- You have no Table-of-Contents (TOC) graphic, or it is an afterthought
- A coauthor wants to "add one more panel just in case"
Figure strategy for Adv. Mater.
Advanced Materials is a visually demanding journal — striking, cover-quality figures are a house expectation, and the journal actively selects work for cover art. But visual polish must serve the science. The hierarchy:
- Lead figure (Figure 1) — usually a schematic of the material/design concept plus the single most decisive piece of evidence. A reader skimming should grasp the advance from this figure and its caption alone.
- Characterization figures — each closes one link of the structure → property → function chain (e.g. one figure for structure by XRD/TEM, one for the property, one for the device + benchmarking).
- The TOC graphic — a small, self-explaining image plus a short blurb that sells the advance to a browsing reader; treat it as a designed object, not a cropped panel.
- Everything else — optimization sweeps, extra samples, raw traces → Supporting Information.
If a panel does not advance the central claim or one essential link, move it to the SI.
Multi-panel characterization figures
Materials figures are dense by nature; discipline keeps them readable:
| Principle |
Practice |
| One figure, one link |
Group panels that jointly prove one claim (e.g. all structure) |
| Reading order |
Label (a),(b),(c) top-left to bottom-right; caption follows it |
| Scale bars, always |
Every micrograph carries a scale bar in the image, not only the caption |
| Consistent color-coding |
The same sample/condition keeps one color across all figures |
| Annotate the feature |
Arrow/label the lattice fringe, peak, or interface that matters |
| Overlay, don't scatter |
Show theory-vs-experiment or before-vs-after on shared axes |
Production standards (Wiley format)
- Design for the journal's two-column layout; check legibility at final printed width.
- Fonts, axis labels, and tick numbers legible at print size; keep a consistent typeface across figures.
- Vector formats for line art/schematics; high-resolution raster (meeting Wiley's DPI requirement) for micrographs — verify the current DPI/format spec.
- Color is free in Adv. Mater. (online and print), but keep palettes color-blind-safe and distinguishable in grayscale; never encode by color alone.
- Define every symbol, abbreviation, and unit in the caption; give micrographs their scale and technique.
- Match nomenclature and units to the main text; use SI units and consistent significant figures.
The TOC graphic and cover art
- The TOC entry (graphic + short text) is a required, high-visibility asset — design it to communicate the advance to a non-specialist in one glance.
- If aiming for cover consideration, prepare a separate high-resolution cover image; do not repurpose a cramped data panel. Verify current cover-submission format and dimensions.
Checklist
Anti-patterns
- A lead figure too dense to parse without the main text
- Micrographs with no scale bar, or scale bars only mentioned in the caption
- Ten-panel megafigures that bury the takeaway
- Inconsistent color-coding of the same sample across figures
- Color-only encoding that fails in grayscale or for color-blind readers
- A TOC graphic that is a cropped, unreadable data panel
Output format
【Figure count】N — each essential? yes / cut list
【Fig. 1 conveys the advance at a glance】yes / redesign
【Per-figure single chain-link】list
【Scale bars on all micrographs】yes / fix
【Consistent color-coding】yes / fix
【Color-blind / grayscale safe】yes / fix
【TOC graphic】designed + blurb? yes / fix
【Next】advmat-supplementary (SI) or advmat-length-management (fit format)
Figure DPI, format, TOC-graphic, and cover-art specifications are set by Wiley and change — verify current requirements on the official Advanced Materials author page.
1---2name: advmat-figures3description: Use when designing or auditing figures for an Advanced Materials manuscript, including the lead figure, multi-panel characterization figures, and the Table-of-Contents graphic, where visual quality is a house expectation. Designs figure strategy; does not run the analysis or write prose.4---56# Advanced Materials Figures (advmat-figures)78## When to trigger910- You have many candidate panels and need a coherent figure set11- Your lead figure does not convey the central advance at a glance12- Characterization panels are crowded, mislabeled, or unreadable at column width13- You have no Table-of-Contents (TOC) graphic, or it is an afterthought14- A coauthor wants to "add one more panel just in case"1516## Figure strategy for Adv. Mater.1718Advanced Materials is a **visually demanding** journal — striking, cover-quality figures are a house expectation, and the journal actively selects work for cover art. But visual polish must serve the science. The hierarchy:1920- **Lead figure (Figure 1)** — usually a schematic of the material/design concept plus the single most decisive piece of evidence. A reader skimming should grasp the advance from this figure and its caption alone.21- **Characterization figures** — each closes one link of the structure → property → function chain (e.g. one figure for structure by XRD/TEM, one for the property, one for the device + benchmarking).22- **The TOC graphic** — a small, self-explaining image plus a short blurb that sells the advance to a browsing reader; treat it as a designed object, not a cropped panel.23- **Everything else** — optimization sweeps, extra samples, raw traces → Supporting Information.2425If a panel does not advance the central claim or one essential link, move it to the SI.2627## Multi-panel characterization figures2829Materials figures are dense by nature; discipline keeps them readable:3031| Principle | Practice |32|--------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|33| One figure, one link | Group panels that jointly prove one claim (e.g. all structure) |34| Reading order | Label (a),(b),(c) top-left to bottom-right; caption follows it |35| Scale bars, always | Every micrograph carries a scale bar in the image, not only the caption |36| Consistent color-coding | The same sample/condition keeps one color across all figures |37| Annotate the feature | Arrow/label the lattice fringe, peak, or interface that matters |38| Overlay, don't scatter | Show theory-vs-experiment or before-vs-after on shared axes |3940## Production standards (Wiley format)4142- Design for the journal's two-column layout; check legibility at final printed width.43- Fonts, axis labels, and tick numbers legible at print size; keep a consistent typeface across figures.44- Vector formats for line art/schematics; high-resolution raster (meeting Wiley's DPI requirement) for micrographs — verify the current DPI/format spec.45- Color is free in Adv. Mater. (online and print), but keep palettes color-blind-safe and distinguishable in grayscale; never encode by color alone.46- Define every symbol, abbreviation, and unit in the caption; give micrographs their scale and technique.47- Match nomenclature and units to the main text; use SI units and consistent significant figures.4849## The TOC graphic and cover art5051- The TOC entry (graphic + short text) is a required, high-visibility asset — design it to communicate the advance to a non-specialist in one glance.52- If aiming for cover consideration, prepare a separate high-resolution cover image; do not repurpose a cramped data panel. Verify current cover-submission format and dimensions.5354## Checklist5556- [ ] Figure 1 conveys the central advance (concept + decisive evidence) at a glance57- [ ] Each figure closes exactly one link of the structure → property → function chain58- [ ] Every micrograph has an in-image scale bar and names its technique59- [ ] Sample/condition color-coding is consistent across all figures60- [ ] Legible at two-column print width; consistent fonts and units61- [ ] Color-blind-safe and grayscale-distinguishable; not color-dependent62- [ ] A designed TOC graphic + blurb exists and sells the advance63- [ ] Non-essential panels/datasets moved to the SI6465## Anti-patterns6667- A lead figure too dense to parse without the main text68- Micrographs with no scale bar, or scale bars only mentioned in the caption69- Ten-panel megafigures that bury the takeaway70- Inconsistent color-coding of the same sample across figures71- Color-only encoding that fails in grayscale or for color-blind readers72- A TOC graphic that is a cropped, unreadable data panel7374## Output format7576```77【Figure count】N — each essential? yes / cut list78【Fig. 1 conveys the advance at a glance】yes / redesign79【Per-figure single chain-link】list80【Scale bars on all micrographs】yes / fix81【Consistent color-coding】yes / fix82【Color-blind / grayscale safe】yes / fix83【TOC graphic】designed + blurb? yes / fix84【Next】advmat-supplementary (SI) or advmat-length-management (fit format)85```8687> Figure DPI, format, TOC-graphic, and cover-art specifications are set by Wiley and change — verify current requirements on the official Advanced Materials author page.
brycewang-stanford