One Page, many meanings: choosing between infographics, training cards, one-pagers, and illustrations

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The terms “infographic,” “training card,” “one-pager,” and “illustration” are frequently used interchangeably in pharmaceutical communications, yet each represents a distinct format with specific characteristics and purposes. This lack of precision in terminology creates real challenges: medical affairs teams request “infographics” when they need detailed scientific summaries; MSLs receive dense text documents when they need quick-reference tools; and congress materials lack the visual impact needed to engage HCPs in a busy environment.

These mismatches between format and purpose not only waste resources but also diminish the effectiveness of scientific communication. Read more

Visualizing challenging data

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In many clinical contexts, data can be highly complex—requiring thoughtful techniques to transform raw figures into meaningful insights. But what makes data challenging? Read more

Interactive infographics in scientific communication: transforming complex data into engaging visual narratives

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Scientific communication in pharma and biotech faces a practical challenge: Making complex scientific data accessible. Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) need flexible tools for discussions with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Conference booth staff must engage visitors with clear scientific stories. And internal teams require effective training materials for deep scientific understanding. Read more

Uploading materials to Veeva: factors that influence time and costs

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Whether you work at a large or small pharma company, your organization almost certainly has a formalized review process for ensuring the non-promotional materials your medical affairs team uses are accurate, in line with local regulations, and free of content that poses unacceptable legal risks, such as lawsuits from competitors. Read more

How an agency’s grasp on approval processes can make or break your medical content

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If you work in medical affairs, you know that legal, medical, and regulatory review is crucial for the materials your team uses, whether internally, in the field, or at medical congress booths. But what about the agencies you partner with? Do they understand your company’s review process? Read more

Why quality control is key in medical writing and scientific visual storytelling

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Working in medical affairs in pharma, you probably have a baseline expectation that your agency partner will thoroughly proofread and run quality control (QC) on the materials they create for you. After all, you want clean copy, stylistic consistency, and easy readability in your slide decks, videos, infographics, and eLearning modules. Read more

Navigating the price range: Unraveling the factors behind visual storytelling solution costs

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As a visual storytelling agency, we often face the question of cost when we receive a project briefing and create a proposal. It’s an understandable question. But the answer can vary greatly. In many cases, we first need to provide a price range, which naturally leads clients to wonder, “what do I get for the lower end, and what do I get for the higher end?” Read more

Can we get open files?

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When you work with an agency on slide decks, illustrations, infographics, print materials, or videos, you probably want to use these assets for at least a few years and have them adapted for different markets or leverage them for other materials. That requires having what many people call “open files” or “source files.”

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What makes a powerful infographic

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In the article “The Power of Infographics”, we showed that infographics are excellent and versatile tools for medical affairs teams because they get to the point, spark conversation, and help you reach more people in your target audience.

In this article, we give the 7 key ingredients for infographics with the power to educate HCPs and your medical affairs team while giving them a lasting impression of the story behind your data. Read more

10 steps for powerful infographics

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Creating an informative yet engaging medical infographic is not easy. If it were, pharma companies wouldn’t invest in our knowledge and experience in developing them. But even though making great infographics isn’t easy, that doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated.

Here are 10 steps we use at CAST PHARMA to develop infographics that meet client needs and engage target audiences. Read more