Poster Design Advertisement

An effective poster is... Focused on a single message. Graphic Lets graphs and images tell the story; uses text sparingly. Ordered Keeps the sequence well- ordered and obvious.

An effective poster operates on multiple levels source of information conversation starter advertisement of your work summary of your work

Many ineffective posters suffer from easy-to-fix problems including... objective(s) and main point(s) hard to find text too small poor graphics poor organization

Creating an effective poster requires time and planning. What's my message? Everything you put on your poster relates to a carefully crafted message. You must be able to state your main point(s) and conclusion(s) clearly and succintly. All visuals and text should relate to those points and conclusions.

How much room do I have? Determine specific size requirements - visit conference web site or otherwise consult with conference organizers. Area available determines, in part,... what you can fit, what you'll have to leave out, layout (landscape vs. portrait orientation), and how things will be organized.

How much money do I have? Your budget will determine, in part, whether you will... plot your poster or print it on standard sheets of paper. use glossy or draft quality paper. use cardboard or foam core for mounting (if printing on standard sheets of paper). create the poster yourself or contract it out.

What milestones should I establish? Especially important if the poster is multi- authored. Start with the due date and work back to create milestones. Allow time for peer review and heavy editing.

Simple messages are more memorable. Details distract from the main point, and can be supplied in person as needed.

Create a mock-up poster focused on your main message. Ask yourself which details are absolutely essential for conveying your message. The most common problem is too much focus on methods. [ An exception is if your poster is about a new method. ] Omit anything that is not essential. Edit text carefully - simplify verbiage, reduce sentence complexity

Do this... Edit ruthlessly! Simplify. Supply details in person, and only as needed. Remove all but the most essential information about your methods. State your results with headings, and focus on results and conclusions. Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a thoughtful, results-oriented researcher.

not this Emphasize methods rather than the main message Identify every detail of your methods, just in case you're not in front of your poster when someone comes by. Even in the results and conclusions, be sure to emphasize your methods over your findings. Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a task- and methods-oriented technician.

Your poster should... use a visual grammar to guide readers to the important parts of your poster. use a column format to make your poster easier to read in a crowd. use organization cues to guide readers through your poster.

use "reader gravity" which pulls the eye from top to bottom and left to right use headings intelligently to help readers find your main points and key information. balance the placement of text and graphics to create visual appeal. use white space creatively to help define the flow of information.

Visual grammar

Do this... Use a graphic hierarchy that visually reflects the relative importance of elements. If it's important, make it BIG. Use type size proportional to importance. Show, don't tell. No need to write down every detail. Use simple figures and graphs, which should dominate the poster visually.

not this Use a text-heavy, publication-style format Use 12-point font for just about everything. Actually, you could just staple up your manuscript - why not? Include every detail as you would for a journal article Use complex, difficult to understand graphics, which are only a small portion of the poster. Make sure your figures are all small enough to fit on a small portion of a journal page.

Organize your poster in columns so that it's easy to read when there's a crowd in front of it.

Use organizational cues

Balance and white space Your poster should have a good visual balance of figures and text, separated by white space. Balance occurs when images and text are reflected (at least approximately) across a central horizontal, vertical, or diagonal axis. This axis is know as the axis of symmetry.

Horizontal Symmetry

Horizontal & Vertical Symmetry

Diagonal Symmetry

Asymmetry (text-heavy on left, image-heavy on right)

Headings - including the title, section titles, and figure captions - should Summarize Use headings as opportunities to summarize your work in large letters. A hurried reader should be able to get the main points from the headings alone. Organize Good headings are part of the visual grammar that helps move readers through your poster.

Be Hierarchical The more important the point, the larger the type. Be Bold Make the strongest statements your research allows.

Posters are a visual medium. Minimize text - use images and graphs instead. Keep text elements to 50 words or fewer. Use phrases rather than full sentences. Use an active voice. Avoid jardon

Left-justify text; avoid centering and right- justifying text. Use a serif font (e.g., Times) for most text - easier to read. Sans-serif font (e.g., Helvetica) OK for titles and headings Text should be at least 24 point in text, 36 for headings. Pay attention to text size in figures - it must also be large. Title should be at least 5cm tall.

Do this... Make text simple, direct, and large enough to read so that your message comes through loud and clear! Title and major headings should be readable from 2m away. Headings carry your main message and can attract viewers to your poster. Supporting material should be visible from 1m away.

Details should be kept to a minimum, and still visible from 1m away. Avoid long lines of text. Keep text blocks compact - single spaced and 50 words or fewer - and separate with white space. Use straightforward left-justified text, with ragged right margins, for clean word spacing and ease of reading.

not this Make text convoluted, impenetrable, and small enough that viewers will go away Headings are to be small, so you can fit everything in. Only text that lacks intrinsic content - like "Results" - should be readable from 1m away.

Make text tiny, as in a published paper, so you can squeeze in all the detail. Make lines of text so long that the readers lose their place when trying to find the next line. Create long text blocks and word hard to fill all available space. Center-, right-, or full-justify large blocks of text, to increase the difficulty of reading even further.

Use color to attract attention, organize, and emphasize - but don't overdo it. Use a light color background and dark color letters for contrast. Avoid dark backgrounds with light letters - very tiring to read. Stick to a theme of 2 or 3 colors - much more will overload and confuse viewers.

If you use multiple colors, use them in a consistent pattern - otherwise viewers will spend their time wondering what the pattern is rather than reading your poster. Overly bright colors will attract attention - and then wear out readers' eyes.

Consider people who have problems differentiating colors, especially when designing graphics - one of the most common is an inability to tell green from red.

Additional information about color deficiency... Making figures and graphs that are color-blind friendly. Wikipedia article on color blindness. Simulations of what people with color deficiencies see.

If it doesn't provide critical support for your main message, ELIMINATE IT! Edit! Edit! Edit ruthlessly! to reduce text. Edit all text to simplify verbiage, to reduce sentence complexity, and to delete details. If it's not relevant to your message, remove it!

Have colleagues comment on drafts. Print a small version and circulate for comment, or hang a full-size draft with pens and invite them to critique. Evaluate your work - try the 60 second evaluation. Are your objective and main message obvious? Will readers be able to contact you?

Do this... Edit ruthlessly! Simplify. Supply details in person, and only as needed Remove all but the most essential information about your methods.

State your results with headings, and focus on results and conclusions. Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a thoughtful, results-oriented researcher.

not this Emphasize methods rather than the main message Identify every detail of your methods, just in case you're not in front of your poster when someone comes by.

Even in the results and conclusions, be sure to emphasize your methods over your findings. Convince viewers (potential employers) that you are a task- and methods-oriented technician.

The Midnight Meat Train has great color and tone. The blurring of the image allows the title to stand out and still manages to create an effective mood.

This Wall-E poster is a great example of the use of the rule of thirds This is an important design technique and is worth learning more about.

The red background makes the eyes of the women stand out extremely well, focus is also drawn to them and ask the questions, why focus on her eyes? and what is she looking at?

This simple poster effectively uses a vibrant color to attract attention. The typography is simple but stands out well.

The colors and tone of this image is very effective in drawing interest. Although the title is upside down it is still easy to read because of its simple and bold lettering.

symmetry can be an effective design technique because in our minds we view symmetry as beautiful and balanced.

This poster does not even need a title because it uses a character we are all familiar with. This poster also uses framing to cut out what we don’t need to see.

The top is unique because it is much like a silhouette of the soldiers, the background color and harsh clouds helps display the tone of the image. The typography is interesting because it is spaced to fit equal distances between the edge of the poster and the text.

A similar poster to the band of brothers also uses the silhouette effect. The four faces blend effectively into the clouds. The typography uses all lower cases and separates the words “saving” and “private ryan” by bolding one and narrowing the other.

The background is whats interesting in this poster, as the two colors fuse together through Al Pacino’s image making his expression, gun and closed fist stand out.

Vector Art stands out quite well as it increases the simplicity of the colors, making each layer stand out more.

This is personally one of my favorites, the tone is extremely strong from the multiple dark textures which also allow the creatively placed title to stand out. A tip here is to think of creative ways to display your content.

The textures and colors give this image a gritty dark feeling. The red gives the title emphasis

This retro inspired poster was not afraid to take elements from old wartime propaganda images.

This poster uses a creative way to display something which ordinarily would be… invisible. The rain also helps separate the dark outline from what would be a dark night.

The poster uses backlighting to make the character stand out. This is an effective technique, use a dark background but behind text or an image try putting a lighter color or glow behind it.

The blurred image in the background helps to make the title stand out.

This is an incredibly simple poster but is a perfect example of simplicity and black on white. The posters character stands out incredibly clear against the complete white background.

The typography is unique as it uses a zombies reaching arm to create the letter A. The doors are unique framing tools. The faces of the zombies are all saturated while the main character is colored and holding a vibrant yellow bouquet, which heavily contrasts the depressing faces of the zombies.

This image is a great example of focal point. The funneling crows helps draw the focus down the image into the center, which is conveniently where the title is.

The use of shadows and different focuses helps to make specific images of this poster stand out.

The bright sun behind Batman helps draw your attention to the character, while the white title also stands out prominently against the black.

Yet another silhouette effect, this may be one of the best examples of how using contrasting colors can draw attention to wherever you would like.

The warm use of colors, large title text, silhouette and unique display of lettering summarizes many techniques that can be found in interesting designs.

The use of a well known symbol in a creative way is a great way to stand out and drawn in attention.

This is a moody image, it uses framing effectively to inspire curiosity into what is outside the frame. It also uses the title of the movie effectively by creating a eerie mood and having the shadow of a window frame on the face of the character.

Harvey Project Option #1

Jaguar Bank Poster Option #2