EFFECTIVE POSTER DESIGN
• AUDIENCE?
• Experts
• Academics
• General public
• HOW MUCH INFORMATION TO PRESENT?
YOU HAVE:
• 3 seconds to caputre attention
• 30 seconds to convey overall concept
• 2-5 minutes to provide full story
• HOW DO YOU ACHIEVE THIS?
• Be concise (who, what, where, when, why)
• Use active voice
• Use short pagargraphs
• Concentrate on attention-getting details
(leave elaboration to conversation/reprints)
• Use bullet points, diagrams, illustrations
where possible
• DEVELOP A PLAN ON PAPER BEFORE STARTING
ACTUAL LAYOUT WORK
• ADOBE INDESIGN AND MICROSOFT
POWERPOINT ARE BEST COMPUTER AIDED
DESIGN OPTIONS ON CAMPUS
• MAKE SURE YOU ARE LAYING OUT POSTER AT
SIZE YOU WILL BE PRINTING
Design Elements to Consider
• PURPOSE?
• Present results
• Get feedback
• Teach
• Etc
Managing your Project
Poster Elements to Consider
Grant Currie
Information Technology
St. Lawrence University
• POSTER WILL BE VIEWED FROM A DISTANCE AS
WELL AS CLOSE UP
• FONT USAGE
• Sans serif fonts for titles (~100pts) and
headers (~50pts)
• Serif fonts for text and captions (~25pts)
• Avoid ornamental or casual fonts or
WordArt
• COLOR USAGE (RESTRAINT IS THE KEY)
• Cool colors = calm, perhaps impersonal,
appear smaller, recede
• Warm colors = exciting, perhaps agitating,
optimistic, angry, appear larger
• Can be effective to balance cool and
warm, or use those with both attributes
(purple, green)
• Dark colors on light background (or vice
versa) = good … not so, dark on dark or
light on light (contrast is key)
• POSTER WILL BE READ TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO
RIGHT
• 3 or 5 columns often works best
• AS WITH ALL RULES, THEY ARE MEANT TO BE
BROKEN
• ZOOM TO 100% WHEN YOU NEED TO VERIFY
• Just do so with intent / consideration
QUALITY
• STORE ALL POSTER RESOURCES (PROJECT
FILE, IMAGES, CHARTS, ETC) IN A COMMON
FOLDER AND MOVE ENTIRE FOLDER WHEN
MOVING PROJECT BETWEEN COMPUTERS
• SAVE AS PDF AND VERIFY LAYOUT BEFORE
PRINTING
Need Assistance?
• Visit the IT HelpDesk
• Use Lynda.com online training
• Contact me: gcurrie@stlawu.edu