Creating Effective Posters

Forestry 544September 2013

Dr Sue WattsFaculty of Forestry

University of British ColumbiaVancouver, BC CANADA

sue.watts@ubc.ca

What is a poster?

• A VISUAL communication tool• A clear MESSAGE• Text supporting GRAPHICS• Something readable 1-2 metres away

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Usual problems

• Boring title• Objectives & main points

difficult to find quickly• Text too small, and too much• Poor graphics• Poor layout

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Your audience

Usually 3 types

• Specialists in your field• Related fields• Unrelated fields

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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

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Titles should entice

• Keep title short• Be declarative• Use past tense (why?)• Avoid initialisms, acronyms

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Ineffective title

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

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Declarative title

Nitrogen application increased Douglas-fir needle growth

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Message

• State main points succinctly• All visuals and text MUST relate to those

points and conclusions

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Layout

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

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FiguresLine graphsBar graphsPie graphsPictographs PhotographsDrawingsGazintasAlgorithmsMaps

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Graphs

• Show relationships quickly• Simple and clean• Label directly (no keys or legends)• Use colours to distinguish rather than

patterns• Avoid 3-D

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Graphs (contin)

• Use only one feature to distinguish lines (styles, colours or symbols)• Keep to standard symbols • Avoid • Separate axes if needed

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Photographs

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

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Drawings

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

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Gazintas

Visuals that show hierarchy, organization or interaction

Tree gazintas show sub-assemblies of the same relative importance

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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

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Text

• Title panels min 36 point, text 24 point• Text readable from 2 m• Main title readable from 5 m

EDIT RUTHLESSLY

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Colours

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

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Computer tools

• MS PowerPoint (templates)• Adobe Illustrator and InDesign• Corel Draw• MS Excel

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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?

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Printing resources

Check the UBC Media Group web site for prices and for set up information from supported programs

www.mediagroup.ubc.ca

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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

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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

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