AI Lecture Redesign — Case Study

From Inconsistent Type to Typographic Precision

A real ETH Zurich conference presentation with 21 slides — redesigned by Arty with a focus on typography optimization. Font hierarchy, weight contrast, and spatial rhythm transformed while preserving every technical detail.

📄 21 slides transformed 🎓 ETH Zurich / EXCLAIM Project 🤖 Style: Academic Lecture

Why This Deck Needs a Redesign

This presentation from ETH Zurich's EXCLAIM project (Extreme Scale Computing and Data Platform for Cloud-Resolving Weather and Climate Modeling, Anurag Dipankar, 2022) covers cutting-edge climate simulation infrastructure. The technical content is strong, but the typography and layout undermine its impact:

Arty's redesign applies consistent typographic principles throughout: bold display headings establish clear slide topics, medium-weight subheadings provide context, and body text uses proper line height and spacing. Code blocks receive syntax-appropriate styling, architecture diagrams gain icon-enhanced nodes with depth, and every slide achieves balanced spatial composition — all while preserving the exact technical content.

Original presentation from ETH Zurich Research Collection — EXCLAIM project, Anurag Dipankar, Scientific Director, 2022-06-28. Used under In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted.
1

ETH Zurich Research Collection Metadata

The original is literally a repository metadata page — monospace-style text listing author, publication date, DOI link, and license on a plain white background. The redesign transforms this into a proper presentation cover with typographic hierarchy and visual structure.

Before
Before: Original slide 1 — repository metadata page with monospace text
Repository metadata page, monospace text, no slide design
After
After: Redesigned slide 1 with structured metadata and icon cards
Structured metadata with icon cards, clear typographic hierarchy
2

Title — Extreme Scale Computing

The actual title slide with satellite imagery and multiple partner logos. The redesign maintains the visual impact while improving text weight and logo arrangement.

Before
Before: Original slide 2 — satellite imagery with overlaid title
Satellite imagery with overlaid title, logo bar at bottom
After
After: Redesigned slide 2 with refined title typography
Refined title typography, organized partner branding
3

Overview

Five bullet points on a mostly empty slide — tiny text occupying less than a quarter of the space. The redesign fills the slide with icon-enhanced agenda cards that use the full canvas.

Before
Before: Original slide 3 — five plain bullets with 75% empty space
Five plain bullets, 75% empty space, undersized text
After
After: Redesigned slide 3 with icon-enhanced agenda cards
Icon-enhanced agenda cards, balanced spatial composition
4

High Fidelity at km-Scale

Split layout with Earth simulation images on the right and bullet points on the left. Typography is inconsistent between the heading and body text.

Before
Before: Original slide 4 — mixed layout with thin heading weight
Mixed layout, thin heading weight, small body text
After
After: Redesigned slide 4 with consistent heading weight
Consistent heading weight, improved text-image balance
5

Extremes — Weather Events Collage

A photo collage of extreme weather events with rotated text labels at various angles. The redesign brings typographic order to the visual chaos.

Before
Before: Original slide 5 — rotated text labels on photo collage
Rotated text labels, collage layout, hard to read captions
After
After: Redesigned slide 5 with ordered visual layout
Ordered visual layout, readable typography
6

Goals and Objectives

Four bullet points next to satellite imagery, with thin body text that fights for attention against the dark image background. The redesign creates distinct objective cards.

Before
Before: Original slide 6 — thin bullets competing with background imagery
Thin bullets competing with background imagery
After
After: Redesigned slide 6 with icon-enhanced objective cards
Icon-enhanced objective cards, clear visual separation
7

Scalable Development — Architecture

A software architecture diagram with plain light-blue boxes showing weather/climate/research configurations. Text labels are small and uniform.

Before
Before: Original slide 7 — uniform plain boxes with small labels
Uniform plain boxes, small labels, no visual differentiation
After
After: Redesigned slide 7 with styled architecture nodes
Styled architecture nodes, improved label typography
8

Broad Usability — Loops of Joy

Shows three code screenshot panels with a serif heading "Loops of Joy" that clashes with the slide's sans-serif body text. The redesign unifies the typography.

Before
Before: Original slide 8 — mixed serif/sans-serif fonts
Mixed serif/sans-serif fonts, code screenshots hard to read
After
After: Redesigned slide 8 with unified font family
Unified font family, styled code presentation
9

Efficient Data Flow

A complex data flow diagram with many small labels, arrows, and data size annotations. The text is cramped and hard to follow.

Before
Before: Original slide 9 — dense flowchart with tiny labels
Dense flowchart, tiny labels, cramped annotations
After
After: Redesigned slide 9 with cleaner flow visualization
Cleaner flow visualization, readable labels
10

Performance Goal — 365 SDPD

A benchmark data table comparing climate models across nodes, cores, SDPD, and processors. The table typography is basic and hard to scan.

Before
Before: Original slide 10 — plain table with no header styling
Plain table, no header styling, inconsistent number alignment
After
After: Redesigned slide 10 with professional table typography
Professional table typography, styled headers
11

EXCLAIM Infrastructure Project

A single paragraph in what appears to be monospace/courier font on a blank white slide — the most extreme typography problem in the deck. The redesign transforms this into a properly typeset slide with visual structure.

Before
Before: Original slide 11 — monospace paragraph on blank slide
Monospace paragraph on blank slide, zero design, terminal-like
After
After: Redesigned slide 11 with proper sans-serif typography
Proper sans-serif typography, structured content cards
12

Use Cases Driven Development

Two-column layout showing Use Case I and II with description text and application photos. The headings and body text have inconsistent styling.

Before
Before: Original slide 12 — inconsistent column typography
Inconsistent column typography, italic vs regular mixed
After
After: Redesigned slide 12 with consistent column styling
Consistent column styling, balanced layout
13

The Modelling System — ICON Hub

A hub-and-spoke diagram showing ICON at the center with related projects. The node text is uniform light-blue with no weight variation.

Before
Before: Original slide 13 — uniform node styling
Uniform node styling, no visual weight differentiation
After
After: Redesigned slide 13 with styled nodes
Styled nodes with depth, improved label hierarchy
14

The Approach

Nested bullet points where some items are deliberately greyed out and italicized to show de-emphasis, but this creates a confusing visual hierarchy. The redesign uses cards with icons instead.

Before
Before: Original slide 14 — grey italic text for de-emphasis
Grey italic text for de-emphasis, confusing visual hierarchy
After
After: Redesigned slide 14 with icon-enhanced approach cards
Icon-enhanced approach cards, clear emphasis through design
15

GT4Py Framework — Compiler Toolchain

An architecture diagram showing the GT4Py compiler pipeline from GTScript to multiple output backends. The boxes are plain with thin borders.

Before
Before: Original slide 15 — plain boxes with thin borders
Plain boxes, thin borders, basic pipeline diagram
After
After: Redesigned slide 15 with styled pipeline stages
Styled pipeline stages, improved flow visualization
16

GT4Py Code Sample

Code snippets in red-bordered boxes with syntax highlighting. The red border clashes with the overall blue theme, and the code typography could be more refined.

Before
Before: Original slide 16 — red-bordered code boxes
Red-bordered code boxes clashing with blue theme
After
After: Redesigned slide 16 with theme-consistent code styling
Theme-consistent code styling, proper syntax display
17

Granularization — Current ICON Execution

Architecture diagram showing the current Fortran+OpenACC execution model with mixed colored nodes (dark blue, yellow, light blue).

Before
Before: Original slide 17 — mixed node colors, inconsistent label sizes
Mixed node colors, inconsistent label sizes
After
After: Redesigned slide 17 with consistent node styling
Consistent node styling, clear layer hierarchy
18

Vision — GT4Py Granules Driven by Python

The target architecture with green nodes indicating Python components. The typography for labels and the "Python" badge are inconsistent.

Before
Before: Original slide 18 — green nodes with inconsistent badge typography
Green nodes, inconsistent badge and label typography
After
After: Redesigned slide 18 with consistent styling
Consistent styling, clear Python vs Fortran distinction
19

Where We Are At?

Progress diagram showing the current state of migration with "Component level CI" annotations. Multiple font sizes and weights compete for attention.

Before
Before: Original slide 19 — mixed font sizes and competing annotations
Mixed font sizes, competing annotations, cluttered
After
After: Redesigned slide 19 with clear progress visualization
Clear progress visualization, organized annotations
20

Summary

Four bullet points with nested sub-bullets in standard body text. The redesign converts these into numbered summary cards with icons.

Before
Before: Original slide 20 — standard bullet points with no visual weight
Standard bullet points, no visual weight, forgettable
After
After: Redesigned slide 20 with numbered summary cards
Numbered summary cards with icons, memorable takeaways
21

COSMO-ICON Performance Comparison

A bar chart comparing performance with bullet-point notes below. The chart typography (axis labels, legend, title) needs refinement.

Before
Before: Original slide 21 — basic chart with small axis labels
Basic chart, small axis labels, bullet notes below
After
After: Redesigned slide 21 with refined chart typography
Refined chart typography, integrated performance notes

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