ATUS News Online: Spring 2008

Does your poster command the attention it deserves?

Issue 40, Spring 2008

Enhancing Your Poster

by Rochelle Parry

Do you have an upcoming conference with a poster session? Are you sure your poster is going to get the attention it deserves? ATUS Graphics can help you prepare your presentation so that it will stand out from the crowd. Here are some tips for creating the best display.

Timing
Leave enough time before your conference to produce your poster. Toward the end of each quarter, the large format printer can get more difficult to schedule. Having your material together at least a week before you need it will ensure adequate attention is given to your project.

Content
You have verbiage that could fill every inch of your 30 x 40" canvas, but should it? The answer would be a resounding "no". When everything is important, nothing is important. It all blends in, requiring too much effort to read from a passer-by who might otherwise be interested in your topic. If you must present a book's worth of data to your audience, consider creating a booklet they can take with them and read at their leisure, or pass out a card where they can find more information online. The less text used on your poster, the larger that text can be - making it easier to read from a distance, which will invite more attention.

It is best to have a short heading (ten words or less) with three to five supporting subhead segments. Type should be limited to bullet-points and captions on diagrams or photos. Visuals play an enormous role here. If your concept can be represented in a graph or chart or photo, do so! You might save… oh, a thousand words or so.

ATUS Graphics can help you design a chart that is attractive and engaging. You don't have to use the same old color bars or pie graphs to represent percentages… consider using iconic images of people or animals or objects for more of an impact.

Color
Color can be over-used. Black or dark grey text on a white background is the easiest to read. A light color can fill background as well, but avoid lightened images as an overall background. In order to read the text over them, the image has to be so light that it will most likely be unrecognizable.

Keep your palette simple, limited to one or two accent colors. For instance, you may want to use color bars behind your subheads. To define sections in your poster, don't use boxes with black outlines. Consider filling the area with a light tint, perhaps a tint of the color used behind the subhead.

Cost
ATUS design and consulting is free of charge for university-related projects; printing costs only $2.50 per linear foot. All you need to provide is a document with your text and any graphics you wish to include, and a week's notice. Keep in mind that the resolution for a printed photo must be at least twice that of an image for the web for it to print clearly.

About the author
Rochelle Parry is a web developer/graphic designer for ATUS. Besides posters, she can create web pages/banners, animations, logos, book covers, and illustrations, and has a unique talent for correcting apostrophe abuses. She began designing during the Reagan administration. You can find her snowboarding, horseback riding, mountain biking, playing Scrabble, or in her office lurking in technical forums. Contact her by email, or phone, 650-2998.

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