1. Poster Presentations Context Aims Academic: Industry: Education:
short reports of current research
Industry:
trade fairs
Education:
summaries of particular topics
Aims
Attract an audience
Keep the audience
Inform the audience
Impress the audience

2. Attract an Audience Colour scheme Use of graphics Interesting title
make effective use of colour
but do check for legibility
Use of graphics
make them large enough
background graphic can be effective
Interesting title
make subject of poster clear

3. Keep the audience Content Layout get the level right
tell a coherent story
put results in context
explain motivation
explain significance of results
Layout
clear navigation
legible font sizes
including graph axes and legends!
design layout and colour scheme for ease of legibility

4. Inform the Audience Content Layout get the level right!
stress the important points
do not overwhelm with detail…
…but do back up what you say
Layout
should complement content
stress important points
present results clearly
introduction and conclusion

5. Impress the Audience Content Layout
make clear that you know what you’re doing and why
be prepared for questions
don’t include material you don’t understand
stress any new or important findings
Layout
look professional
no skew-whiff bits of paper glued to cardboard
no typos or spelling mistakes
good quality graphics

6. Design Issues Colour scheme Layout
choose dark-on-light or light-on-dark
ensure good contrast between text and backgrounds
be careful when using patterned backgrounds
Layout
divide material into blocks
but not too many blocks
try to avoid long stretches of uninterrupted text
make sure it’s clear what graphs represent (title, axis labels, legend)

7. Navigation Posters don’t automatically impose ordering of material
if order is important, make sure it is natural
English-speaking people will naturally work top to bottom, left to right
therefore introductory material should be on top or at left
ensure graphics and text relate naturally
try to avoid need for arrows etc.

8. Example layouts
Introduction
Panel 1
Panel 2
Panel 3

9. Conclusion Good posters are easier to recognise than to describe
lots of posters round department, by academics and students
look at them
decide which you like and which you don’t
try to analyse reasons why you like/dislike poster
check with friends (if everyone likes a particular poster, it’s doing something right)