Creating Conference Posters in the Humanities A (fairly) simple how-to Alima Bucciantini

Why do we do these? It’s a simple and exciting way to present research. Not just another paper You can connect to other researchers, find collaborators and new ideas for work in progress It also gives experience in condensing ideas and presenting them to non-expert audiences Great skills for the job search for students!

Inspirations for the poster Museum labels Get ideas across in simple language, and in a minimum of text. Shop windows Advertising your research

Aims Present research in a vibrant, new, interactive format Draw people to your poster, and have it able to speak for itself when you are not there to explain it. So, it should combine text and relevant images to be clear, alluring, and not overwhelm readers. People’s attention spans are short, so keep that in mind!

How to get it done! Go to file menu Working in PowerPoint, first decide how big you want it. Usual size is 36”x48”. Go to file menu select ‘page setup’ under ‘size’ select ‘custom’ Fill in the size you want – for example, 36 and 48 You now have a large-format slide that you can work with.

Things to remember Have a snappy, understandable title. This is maybe not the time for something with a semicolon and 3 commas in it. Use readable font sizes Depending on size, title maybe 90-120, headings 48-72, body text 30-60. Remember people are standing back from it to read. Think about color choice. The easiest to read is light text on a dark background Just be sure to avoid clashes and craziness No academic jargon. Use clear, simple language

What about images? ALWAYS use images! But, use images to help tell the story, not just to illustrate it. Maps, historical images, charts, etc. all help us understand the context of humanities work at a glance. Image selection will depend entirely on your subject and the story you are telling Good places to look include Library of Congress Digital Collections Digital Public Library of America Flickr Commons Wikimedia Commons Google Image Search with usage rights ‘for reuse’

How to start work What are the main three or four points that you want to make in this poster? Give each a subheading, and see how they can be arranged to work together Write each into paragraphs, or bullet points – whichever works best for the concepts Some will be larger than others These are the central ideas

Title Name, Affiliation Major Point One Major Point Two Needs to stand alone, be understandable without the rest of the poster Major Point One Text, broken up into paragraphs some bullet points, maybe some images. Don’t put a big wall of text! Major Point Four Summary, conclusion, but again, stands alone without needing to read the rest of the poster Major Point Three Some additional details, interesting anecdote, data, evidence Selected Bibliography