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Poster (in Powerpoint)

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Lab Report

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Lab Report (Biology)

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Poster (in Powerpoint)

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Primary Sources Research Project (Draft)

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Research Paper

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Understand assignment requirements. Develop overall message.

Check the requirements:

What is the size?
Are there required elements (e.g. abstract, references, methods, findings, etc.)
Are there restrictions on graphics?
How will it be displayed (e.g. on table, board, etc.)?

Develop the main idea or "message" you want people to take away.

The average viewer will spend less than 10 minutes reading a poster. Be sure your main idea is clear and understandable.

Determine where it will be printed.

Check with your college or department first
What file type is needed (e.g. PDF, PTT, etc.)?
How long does it take to print (may take 2+ days)?
Does it require a large format printer?

College of Biological Sciences Imaging Center
Borchert Map Library
U of M Printing Services
Coffman Large Format Printer
Kinko's or other local and online printing companies

Learn more about effective posters.

Designing Effective Posters (University of Buffalo)
Creating Effective Poster Presentations (North Carolina State University)
Advice on designing scientific posters from Swarthmore College

Look at examples within and outside your discipline to get ideas of design, flow, etc.

Undergraduate Research Symposium in Digital Conservancy (click on browse "Titles.")
Examples from North Carolina State
Pimp my Poster on Flickr

Develop individual elements

Draft the text of the individual parts of poster (introduction, results, findings etc.)

Use minimal words--be sure to focus on communicating your overall message

Consider what you want to display visually or with text. Consider alternatives to paragraphs of text such as lists, charts, graphs, graphics, etc.
Develop a meaningful and engaging title.
Determine how you are going to cite information within your poster.

Work on design and layout.

Develop template

Browse Internet for existing templates.

Search for "free Powerpoint templates."

Create poster without a template. Basically, the poster is one large slide.

Within powerpoint, start with a blank presentation.
Specify the size of the slide (PowerPoint 2003: File>Page Setup or PowerPoint 2007: Design tab>Page Set up>Slides Sized For>Custom)

Select fonts to enhance readability

Limit fonts to 1 to 2 different styles (e.g. for header, for section/body text)
Font size recommendations to help audience read from 6 feet away.

Title: 90 to 100 pt. bold
Author: 36-42 pt. bold
Section head: 36-54 pt.
Main text: 28-32 pt.
References: 18-28 pt.

Select color scheme to enhance readability

Limit colors to 2-4 (e.g. background, font, etc.).
Us contrast such as light backgrounds and darker texts to increase visibility.

Learn more:

Designing Effective Posters (University of Buffalo)
Creating and Effective Poster Presentations (North Carolina State University)

Create tables, chars or graphs. Select graphics or images

Create tables, charts or graphs to clearly display data

Consider using a program such as Excel or LaTeX to create and importing them as a graphic.
Cite graphs or charts if not your own creation.

Use caution with images from the Internet.

Are they copyrighted? Do you have permission to use them?

Look for a Creative Commons license.
Be sure to cite any images, charts or graphs created by someone else.

Will they look good when enlarged?

Use a minimum of 300 x 300 pixels (check "properties")
TIFF and PNG are higher quality file type

Do graphics compliment overall design/color scheme?

Be aware of white space to help with flow and readability.

Assemble Poster

Copy and paste elements into poster.
Make sure fonts are easy to read from 3 to 5 feet away.
Revise elements to ensure fit on poster. Generally, you will need to cut and edit content to make it more readable. Use the following guidelines:

20-30% text
30-40% graphics
30-40% white space

Draft handout(s) or gather any other materials or props you may need.

Review poster in large format before printing

Will the poster capture the readers attention in 3 seconds from 10 feet away? Will they get the "message"?
Make sure images, graphs or charts created by others are cited.
Ask a friend or classmate to view poster. Did they get the "message"?
View the entire poster.

Zoom in to 100% to be sure graphics are not blurry and are of good resolution.
Zoom out ("fit to screen") to see the entire poster to make sure everything is lined up and images don't overlap with text, etc.

Check your assignment requirements to make sure you completed all components.

Print the Poster

Deliver, upload or email file to printer within timeframe to get printing done by deadline.
Check with printer to be sure to send correct file type (often PDF).
How are you going to transport your finished poster?

Do you need a poster tube?

Develop talking points about Poster

How is the poster going to be displayed?

Do you need to provide pins?
Do you have any props or handouts?

Write short talking points to describe your research to viewers.
Be prepared to answer questions on your research.