Design Resources
Best Fonts for Scientific Figures and Posters: A Complete Reference Guide
A compact reference for readable font choices, label sizes, journal scaling, and poster typography for research figures and teaching diagrams.
Nancy Taylor / SciFigure AI
Typography is one of the easiest ways to make a scientific figure feel professional. The goal is not personality. The goal is fast reading at journal, poster, and slide sizes.
Reliable font choices
Use clean sans-serif families for labels: Inter, Helvetica, Arial, Source Sans, or Noto Sans. Serif fonts can work for titles, but small axis labels and callouts should stay simple.
Size guidelines
For journal figures, avoid labels that become smaller than 7 to 8 pt after final scaling. Posters need larger text because people read them from a distance. Slides should use fewer labels and more whitespace.
Hierarchy
Keep one primary title style, one label style, and one note style. Too many font weights make a figure harder to scan. In SciFigure AI, use prompts that specify "clean sans-serif labels" and "consistent label hierarchy" when generating diagrams.