1. Creating Effective Posters Forestry 544 September 2013 Dr Sue Watts Faculty of Forestry University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC CANADA sue.watts@ubc.ca

2. What is a poster? A VISUAL communication tool A clear MESSAGE Text supporting GRAPHICS Something readable 1-2 metres away 2

3. Usual problems Boring title Objectives & main points difficult to find quickly Text too small, and too much Poor graphics Poor layout 3

4. Your audience Usually 3 types Specialists in your field Related fields Unrelated fields 4

5. Abstract Required by most conference organizers Tells why topic is important, what you did, what you found Poster becomes an illustrated abstract Do not include on poster 5

6. Titles should entice Keep title short Be declarative Use past tense (why?) Avoid initialisms, acronyms 6

7. Ineffective title The effects of nitrogen on needle length in Douglas-fir trees in the upper Squamish Valley 7

8. Declarative title Nitrogen application increased Douglas-fir needle growth 8

9. Message State main points succinctly All visuals and text MUST relate to those points and conclusions 9

10. Layout Size of poster Title across top Intro top left Conclusions lower right Balance text and graphics (20/40/40) Use columns 10

11. Figures  Line graphs  Bar graphs  Pie graphs  Pictographs  Photographs  Drawings  Gazintas  Algorithms  Maps 11

12. Graphs Show relationships quickly Simple and clean Label directly (no keys or legends) Use colours to distinguish rather than patterns Avoid 3-D 12

13. Graphs (contin) Use only one feature to distinguish lines (styles, colours or symbols) Keep to standard symbols  Avoid  Separate axes if needed 13

14. Photographs Value to article can range from Ø to more valuable than any text! 14

15. Drawings Can show perspective and detail (insides, layers) not possible with a photograph 15

16. Gazintas Visuals that show hierarchy, organization or interaction Tree gazintas show sub-assemblies of the same relative importance 16

17. Text Max 1000 words per poster Max 50 word text elements Use phrases, active voice Double space, left justify Serif for text, sans-serif for titles Titles should be sentence case 17

18. Text Title panels min 36 point, text 24 point Text readable from 2 m Main title readable from 5 m EDIT RUTHLESSLY 18

19. Colours Use light background, dark text Max 2 - 3 colours in theme Bright is attractive but tiring to read 19

20. Computer tools MS PowerPoint (templates) Adobe Illustrator and InDesign Corel Draw MS Excel 20

21. Reviewing Edit to reduce text Remove anything not relevant to message Get colleagues to comment Are your objectives and main message OBVIOUS? Can the reader contact you? 21

22. Printing resources Check the UBC Media Group web site for prices and for set up information from supported programs www.mediagroup.ubc.ca 22

23. Presenting your poster Know the location Arrive early with supplies Bring copies of poster as handouts Stand at your poster when required Have a 2-3 minute presentation prepared for when people ask 23

24. Writing your poster review Briefly describe the location, title, content and general layout of the poster Write a two-page report discussing the positive aspects of the poster and ways in which it could be improved Write in complete sentences and paragraphs with no spelling errors! Follow Strunk & White “Elements of Style” Deadline is October 29/31, 2013 24