Poster design tips ICES

Keep it simple and think visually

·  A poster is a visual presentation of information and should be designed as such – do not simply reproduce your written paper in poster format.

·  Keep the text concise and in a user-friendly language. And since the poster is a visual presentation of your work rather than a written paper, you should confine the number of words to 500 or less.

·  Build up a logical sequence of the poster. Tell a story: provide clear flow of information from introduction to conclusion.

·  Focus on your major findings – a common fault is to try to cover too much.

·  Make sure the title and author's name are prominent and eye-catching.

·  Authors are encouraged to include a personal photograph on their poster to facilitate their recognition by viewers.

·  Self-explanatory graphics should dominate the poster.

·  The text should be large enough to be read easily from at least 6 feet away.

·  Choose a clear font with large inner space (i.e. the space inside the loops of letters such as 'o', 'd', 'p'). Good examples are Arial, Verdana, Georgia or Helvetica.

·  Use a colored background to unify your poster: Muted colors, or shades of gray, are best for the background.

Maintain a colour scheme

Two or three related colors will give your poster a cohesive look. The colors need to go together well enough that they don't conflict with your message. Colors that have something in common usually go well together. Blue and green go well together because they have blue in common. Bright red and blue have little in common and contrast sharply. If white is added to both red and blue so they have white in common, pink and powder blue become bearable. Adding black or another color can have the same effect.
If you use a standard twelve section color wheel, any three neighboring colors will work well together. For contrast in small quantities, the color directly across the color wheel can add impact. /
A soft blue-green background can make your display look attractive, clean, and professional. Thin red-orange borders on your images can make the images stand out. A single contrasting color can be used in small amounts for impact.