Creating Effective Posters

This guide will assist students and researchers in preparing for a poster presentation. It will point you to resources that can help you design, create, print, and prepare your poster and presentation. 

Posters are an effective way of sharing your research. Posters may be presented at SOURCE, other professional conferences, local research events, or educational events for the general public. Regardless of the setting, posters will allow you to communicate information about your research to others in a concise and visual manner and also engage with viewers.

This guide provides tips and resources for each stage of the poster design process. Use the tabs on the left side to navigate through the pages of the guide.

Explore other posters (there are examples on this guide!)

Make a sketch of your expected layout

Arrange the contents in a series of 3 or 4 columns

Plan your photos, figures, and tables that will help tell your story

Design your poster to address your central question and state it clearly.

Experts suggest the following is a good balance for your design:

• 20 - 25% of your poster should be text
• 40 - 45% of your poster should be graphics
• 30 - 40% of your poster should be empty space.

Review guidelines for the conference you will be presenting your poster at

Ask yourself: What are the dates for submission and presentation of your poster and what are the size parameters for your poster?

Is there any information that you are required to put on your poster like funding information or a conference logo?

Identify your audience and the main message you want to convey on your poster! This will help you decide what information (text and graphics) to include on your poster.  

Most people will not read your entire poster.  Viewers should be able to figure out what you did, what you found, and why it's important by quikly scanning the title, results, graphics, and conclusion of your poster! Look at your poster as if you have never seen the content before. Can you get the gist of it in 5 seconds? 

Distribute text and graphics evenly throughout the poster. Below is a graphic with examples of ways to keep your poster symmetrical. 

Credit: Hess, G.R., K. Tosney, and L. Liegel at Creating Effective Poster Presentations.

Graphics like charts, tables, graphs, figures and photographs, are a way to impart information to your viewers.  The type of graphics that you use will depend on your audience and the message of your poster.

Create graphics that are easy-to-read and self-explanatory

Your graphics should be large enough that they can be read by a person standing a few feet away.  

Give each graphic a title and clearly label charts, tables, graphs and photographs.

Think beyond the basic chart or graph, and consider how other data visualizations or infographics might help convey your message.

If you do use anything that you did not create, then cite them!

• Create a color scheme with 2-3 colors
• Use dark text on a light-colored background
• Do not use excessively bright colors
• Remember that your viewers are going to be standing 4+ feet away and the text will need to be readable far away!
• Consider people who have trouble differentiating colors
• What fonts should you use?
  • Pick your 1-2 fonts and use them consistently. 
  • Use sans serif fonts for titles and headings.
  • Use serif fonts for text.
  • Do not use unusual fonts or word art!
  • You want your poster to be as easy to read as possible.

Font size depends on the size of your poster.  Here are some basic guidelines! If you need more text on your poster, you'll probably have smaller font size. 

• Title: 80-120 point
• Names and affiliations: 60-90 point
• Headings: 44-80 point
• Text: 32-52 point

Visit the University Writing Center in the Academic Success Center the first floor of the Brooks Library to go over your text!

Use active voice when writing the text

Use short sentences, simple words, and bullets to illustrate discrete points.

Use language that your audience will understand

Use left justification of text - not full justification

Size of text -- it should be large enough to be read from 6 feet away

Spell out acronyms the first time you use them 

Edit!  There is almost always too much text in a poster

Delete all redundant references & filler phrases

Write your content out first, then transfer to a design program and then copy and paste the content into the design program you have selected for making your poster and edit it as needed to fit formatting.

Credit: Text from Oregon State University Libraries and graphic from University of Southern California Libraries.