Poster Design and Typography Tips
Poster Design
One professional society had a "best poster" contest at its annual meeting and presented the following criteria by which the posters were to be judged. These are helpful guidelines to anyone making a conventional poster. Please note that different professional societies may have different guidelines and lastly, don´t let this limit your creative process ...
Layout
- A banner title which is descriptive, should be situated high up on the poster so that it can be read 15-20 feet away.
- Authors and his/her affiliation should follow.
- The content of the poster should be bracketed with an introduction at the beginning and a LIST of conclusions at the end.
- These sections are critical because they may be the only sections which are read.
- The flow of information through the poster should be explicit and should be organized in columns.
- The poster should be self-explanatory, so that the main points are communicated without the presenter being there.
- Each illustration should have a headline title providing a take-home message with a more detailed caption below.
- There should be creativity in the presentation.
Content
- Does the introduction provide the basis of investigation and the direction/approach to answer the question being considered?
- Is the methodology of the investigation clear?
- Are the results presented and are they understandable?
- Do the results support the conclusions drawn or are there possible alternatives in interpretation?
- Do the conclusions follow from the original intent, given the introduction?
- Is there creativity in the investigation?
- Be brief. Don´t try to cram a whole research paper into your poster. NOBODY will read it. You just might succeed in enticing someone to read a short synopsis though.
- Use illustrations and photographs. Don´t make them all the same size -- let one or two dominate. Place them intelligently, not randomly.
- Look at your design with a critical eye. Is it eyecatching? Does it look boring or is it too busy?
- Have other people critique your poster design BEFORE you print it (and encourage them to be brutal).
Typography
These "rules" of typography apply to ALL printed matter, not just posters. Use them if you want to improve the appearance of correspondence, proposals, etc. The "rules" can be broken of course, but only when the design or effect would be enhanced by doing so.
Columns: Justified or Ragged Right?
Justified text has a conservative, business-like, stuffy feel to it while ragged right text is more easy-going and relaxed. You decide which is best for your poster, based on the kind of effect you´re going for. Since the posters being produced here generally are for explaining science to scientists, it´s probably appropriate.
When wrapping text around the left side of a graphic or photo, always justify the wrapped text, even if the rest of the paragraph and text is ragged right. You´ll see it looks much "cleaner."
Limit the average number of words per line of text in a column to about 12. People are reluctant to read longer lines of text.
Heads and Subheads
Use a sans serif font (like Helvetica or Arial) for headings and subheadings and in graphs and charts. Use a serif font (like Times New Roman) for your body text. This is not a hard and fast rule -- you can use serif fonts for headings if you want, but do it for a reason.
Indents
Don´t indent the first paragraph nor the first paragraph after a heading or subheading.
Never Double-Space After Punctuation
Never put two spaces after any punctuation. This may be acceptable for typewriters, not computers.
Acronyms and Numbers In Text
You should try to make your text look even and have a smooth, gray tone to it with no disruptions. Look at a block of text that contains some acronyms or numbers. The caps and numbers look too large, making your text seem "unbalanced." Some fonts have expert sets or old style versions that can be substituted for these, however, for our purposes, you can try using small caps or, if you´re really motivated, reduce the size of the caps and numbers by a point or two. If reducing the size changes the line weight too much then go with the small caps.
Widows and Orphans
A widow is a word or part of a word that takes up an entire line at the end of a paragraph. An orphan is the last word of the previous paragraph that appears at the top of a column. Both of these are "unsightly." Some quick editing of your text can eliminate these.
Using Bold, Italics, and Underline
Don´t use bold or underlines within blocks of text -- use italics (although bold works better than italics in web pages). Bold is for headings and subheadings. The underline type style should not be used at all -- if you want to draw a line under text then use the Line tool.
Experimental Biology: Effective Poster Presentations
Tips for Poster Presentations
Posters should be readable by viewers five feet away. The message should be clear and understandable without oral explanation. The following guidelines have been prepared to help improve the effectiveness of poster communication.
- Initial Sketch-Plan your poster early. Focus your attention on a few key points. Try various styles of data presentation to achieve clarity and simplicity. Does the use of color help? What needs to be expressed in words? Suggest headlines and text topics.
- Rough Layout-Enlarge your best initial sketch, keeping the dimensions in proportion to the final poster (see diagram). Ideally, the rough layout should be full size. A blackboard is a convenient place to work. Print the title and headlines. Indicate text by horizontal lines. Draw rough graphs and tables. This will give you a good idea of proportions and balance. If you are working with an artist, show him or her the poster layout. Ask associates for comments. This is still an experimental stage.
- Final Layout-The artwork is complete. The text and tables are typed, but not necessarily enlarged to full size. Now ask, is the message clear? Do the important points stand out? Is there a balance between words and illustrations? Is there spatial balance? Is the pathway through the poster clear?
- Balance-The figures and tables should cover slightly more than 50% of the poster area. If you have only a few illustrations, make them large. Do not omit the text, but keep it brief. The poster should be understandable without oral explanation.
- Typography-Avoid abbreviations, acronyms, and jargon. Use a consistent font throughout. An 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper photostatically enlarged 50% makes the text readable from five feet.
- Eye Movement-The movement (pathway) of the eye over the poster should be natural, down the columns or along the rows. Size attracts attention. Arrows, pointing hands, numbers, and letters can help clarify the sequence.
- Simplicity-Resist the temptation to overload the poster. More material may mean less communication.
The poster-board surface area is 3´8" high and 5´6" wide. Prepare a 6" high headline strip that runs the full width of the poster. Include the title, authors, and affiliations on the strip in letters not less than 1" high. Post a large-typed copy of your abstract in the upper left-hand corner, including the program number (this is found in the Program and may be entered at the meeting). Bring your own pushpins.