HOW TO DESIGN AN EFFECTIVE POSTER …the DOs and DON’Ts.

Help The Reader  Title  Images  Layout

Help The Reader  Quickly orient your audience to your content  Scientists and engineers are most likely to read goals and results.  Title Hypothesis Results Experimental Design

Avoid Easy Mistakes  Proofread.  Have some one else proofread  Affect/Effect  Proofread  Their/They’re/There  Proofread  Two/Too/To

Grab attention with your title  Make the title assertive, clear and interesting.  A question can work well. ◦ For example: Why do dogs scratch flea bites? ◦ Not so good: Studies of the effects of Siphonaptera bites on canine motor neurons.

Tell A Story…  Introduction  1 st paragraph - lays out the problem Include both the “what” and the “so what”.  2 nd paragraph - gives background/history  3 rd paragraph - gives justification for work (“Therefore this study was designed to…”)

Purpose  The specific problem that you tested “We tested for the presence of a specific protease in the ovulatory process.”  Yes, this will overlap with last paragraph of intro

Methods  Subcategories (keep these brief and to the point!) Highlights of the major pieces of your research Avoid jargon and unexplained acronyms Briefly explain any specific procedures that may be less commonly known

Help The Reader  Poster design should be simple and engaging  Can your audience read it in sections as they pass by?

Results  Report your major findings as Put in an Example Here of “how to” Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.  Use graphs, pie charts or other good visual presentation methods.  Avoid “raw data” tables.  Include a one to two sentence “punch line” (legend) under each figure.

Summary & Conclusion  Summary Prose version of the Results listed in three or four bullets  Conclusion How did your findings address your hypothesis? Make the connections between your assumptions and what you found

References  What are the key papers in this area?  Most of this is probably in your introduction  Other citations may be in your methods section  Provide a bibliography of cited sources on board  Use proper APA format

Leave plenty of blank space (up to 50%)

Align objects to make them easier to follow  Align objects along sight lines  The eye looks for edges

Help The Reader

 Arrows or numbers indicate how to read your poster

Help The Reader  Dress up your poster!

Make your text visible  Title should be visible from 15 to 20 feet  Main headings should be visible from 8 to 10 feet  Supporting text should be visible from 6 to 8 feet

Colors can unify your poster  Bright colors: attract attention or detract from message  Limit number of colors to create theme  Use colors of similar value and saturation

Background intensity can affect image appearance

Background color can affect image appearance

Serif -or- Sans Serif Fonts?  Serif fonts can be easier to scan quickly  Sans Serif fonts can be less distracting

Neatness Counts  If you can – make your poster one, big PowerPoint slide  Expensive to print  Need to allow time to get it printed!!!  Use a paper cutter, not scissors  Use ruled lines to make sure all sections are straight and aligned  Print graphs & photos on photo paper, not copy paper

The text & image should reinforce each other