Designing Your Poster

How to design your academic poster for large format printing. Creative Services from 香港六合彩中特网 Educational Media.

Academic posters are used for a variety of purposes:

To advertise your department, university, research group or yourself
To help start a conversation and raise an interest in your work
To inform of an issue or persuade
To make new contacts for collaboration and jobs

A poster is a visual method of presentation and requires a different approach to writing a report or giving a presentation. It allows you to discuss your research and get feedback.

Things to consider before designing your poster

1. Objective

To grab attention and inspire interest. It is important to make it look interesting (if you want it to be read). There听should be a strong central message with your research displayed concisely using well laid out clear text and colourful graphics to attract attention.听

2. Audience

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General public听
How much existing knowledge does your audience have of your research project, methods and terminology? Design your poster accordingly.听

3. Content

Be selective, this must relate and be relevant to your audience so you get across all the information quickly and clearly.听

4. Set requirements听听

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Regulations:听fonts,听graphics and for 香港六合彩中特网 use of听the brand identity, note these are important听for the university and the conference venue.听

5. General points

Ensure there is a good 听flow to your design

For conference posters ensure that your subject matter is听clear from a minimum of 3 metres听or your audience will probably not approach.
You have only a few seconds to grab attention and generallly people spend approximately 5 mins looking and reading听it.
Note: 听in听5听minutes听you can read approximately 1000 words or 500-600 with figures, so keep this in mind when writing your content
Use a logical and consistent layout 鈥� headings, numbering, graphics听e.g. arrows听
There is a golden rule that 'Less is more' 鈥� too much information can reduce the impact of your poster.

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Successful posters have a ratio of:听听
20 鈥� 25% text听听
40 鈥� 45% graphics听
30 - 40% empty space听

6. Poster organisation听/ planning听

Your poster must include

Title听
Authors听
Affiliations 鈥� always use the correct听standalone听logo听and any sponsors logos听

Compose a strong title

Identify your main message and divide the information into main sections.听听

Introduction / purpose - what is your project about? Why is it important?听
Methods / experimental design 鈥� what happened?听
Results 鈥� a good place for graphics听
Summary / Conclusions听
Future directions 鈥� a brief description听
How can the viewer find out more?听-听use QR codes, links, contact details and references.听Handouts are a good way to provide this information.听It is also a good idea to include your photo in case you are away from your poster.听

Writing your text

Think about how much text to use and where graphics can be used instead.

Most posters contain too much text. Deciding what to leave out is one of the most difficult decisions. Keep everything relevant.听听
Think about the visual aesthetics of your poster but don鈥檛 use images just to decorate.听
Start by roughing out layout ideas on paper, it will save time in the long run.听
Choose the听香港六合彩中特网 poster template听that most closely matches your design.
This will give you a strong starting point with the correct听香港六合彩中特网 branding.

Poster setup听

Size -听typical sizes are A0, A1 A2 - do check with your venue before starting.听

A sizes	Millimetres听	Inches听
A0	841 x 1189听	33.1 x 46.8听
A1	594 x 841听	23.4 x 33.1听
A2	420 x 594听	16.5 x 23.4听
A3	297 x 420听	11.7 x 16.5听
A4	210 x 297听	8.3 x 11.7听

Remember the basics and stick听to them

If you are not using a听香港六合彩中特网 poster听template听please set your page to the final size required.
It is ok to use a larger template than you need as this can always听be scaled down with no loss of resolution.听
If you need to create a poster听bigger than your software听allows, then please design it at a smaller proportion which will be scaled up on printing.
When you create and include imagery, add these听at as high a resolution as possible in JPEG听or PNG format
Research posters should have always include听the听香港六合彩中特网 banner听added at the top of your poster.听
Border - it is recommended that you use a minimum of 1.5 cm at the edges for visual aesthetics and to avoid cropping of content.

TIP: Before submission always review your poster听and ask for feedback from a colleague, tutor or friend. The Educational Media team are always happy to recieve queries and will offer advice, we are here to help.

Design Principles

These can be applied to any software and remember that all educational posters must follow听accessibility guidelines听

Layout -听make your poster visually appealing

Be consistent, be bold, if in doubt use a template.
Use clear headings and subheadings in bold.
Columns assist reading order which is usually top to bottom and left to right.听听
Use images to break up text into smaller chunks, create a sense of balance and help the flow across the poster.听听
Using听blank space can emphasise an听image or text,听avoids clutter and focuses听on your message.
Leave a minimum 1.5 cm margin at the edge to help visibility and avoid the risk of content being trimmed off.听听
A grid structure will help to align elements which makes your poster easier to read.
The eye looks for edges so align photos, headings, text and axes.听
If you have the choice a landscape poster is more comfortable to read as听the majority of听content is at eye level.听

Legibility - make your text work for you

Aim for 300听鈥� 600 words that are concise and to the point.听
Avoid font size below 24pt and use a maximum of two fonts
The official fonts for 香港六合彩中特网 are Helvetica or听Arial for headings and Garamond for body text.听

Minimise the use of听italics,听underlining听and CAPITALS听
Break up large areas of text.
Use bullet points.听
Slightly increasing line spacing can help clarity.听
Left justified text is easier听to read听that听fully justified and avoids ugly gaps.听
Set headings in听bold听using sentence case,听avoid the use of shadows and embossing.
To ensure accessibility, avoid the use of coloured text, try to keep to black wherever possible unless you are using a colour background.

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Useful Information to help you produce your poster

Graphs and Images

Graphs and charts can be more effective than tables in showing data trends in numerical data.听
Keep graphs and charts simple 鈥� 2D is usually clearer.
Avoid using thin lines in any graph, it is always prudent to thicken lines and enlarge text.听
Use high resolution images 鈥� at least 100 ppi at full size.
When using images follow GDPR regulations especially where you are using听images of people. Check on this website for GDPR information.听
All images downloaded from online sources are subject to copyright unless this has been waived and is under a Creative Commons licence.听
Never use images directly from a Google or similar search engine.

Images of 香港六合彩中特网 can be found on 香港六合彩中特网 Imagestore鈥嬧赌�

High quality听stock听images can be licensed very cost effectively from sites like:
- for icons and graphical imagery

There are lots of free sources of imagery and听Flickr and 听are useful听resources, however, be ultra careful and always check听the听copyright听status of any image听taken or downloaded from the听web.

香港六合彩中特网 Copyright听guidelines

Information, advice and assistance, on a wide range of copyright issues for 香港六合彩中特网 students and staff, is offered by the 香港六合彩中特网 Library Services Copyright Team. Please visit their website here:

香港六合彩中特网 Copyright Advice

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Colour

Please follow the official 香港六合彩中特网 colour palette set by the 香港六合彩中特网 Brand team.听
Ensure that it doesn鈥檛 detract from images in the body of the poster.听
Try not to use too many colours 鈥� 1-2 works well plus images and charts.听
Think about colour blindness, red, green and pink can all be hard to read. A red title on black could be illegible to some.
Use strong tonal contrast to help visibility听e.g., dark text on a light background. Black on white is the clearest.听

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Quick Guide to 香港六合彩中特网 Branding for poster design

Only use the听香港六合彩中特网 colour palette.听
The 香港六合彩中特网 banner should be set at 100% of you chosen 香港六合彩中特网 colour. 听Tints of that or a complementary colour听can be used elsewhere. The colour values are listed听on the 香港六合彩中特网 Brand Identity website.
The 香港六合彩中特网 banner should be used where 香港六合彩中特网 is the major partner.
Never place other images or logos on the 香港六合彩中特网 banner, only the title text is allowed.听
If the work is an equal collaboration with other institutions or organisations,听the standalone logo should be used instead with all logos placed at the bottom of the poster.听
Where co-branding is required then information on how to add partner logos, the size and orientation can be found on the 香港六合彩中特网 Brand website page.
The 香港六合彩中特网 letters on the banner/standalone logo represent a 鈥榳indow鈥� and as such are transparent showing the background beneath.听
Do not distort the 香港六合彩中特网 banner/logo. It must extend to the edge of the page. It should be resized using the corner handles.听
Do not change the colour of the banner, download the correct colour instead. Banners can be found on 香港六合彩中特网 Imagestore, there are links from the 香港六合彩中特网 Brand Identity website.
The title text should be left aligned with a clear space around the 香港六合彩中特网听cutout听and portico
For detailed information on how to use text within the banner, including the do's and dont's, please听visit this website page

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Poster Tube end circles stacked together in a pattern

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