Q: Why a poster?

A: Scientists use posters to visually present the essentials of their research. Poster sessions are an integral part of professional scientific meetings and are one of the primary means of scientific communication.

Q: How necessary is a tutorial in poster-building? How hard can it be?

A: Right --- it isn't hard! If you know the basics of graphic design and the main ingredients of content, your poster will be more readable. At a scientific poster session, your goal is to attract viewers to approach your poster and then talk to them about your work.

Q: So how do I get people to look at my poster?

A: Think of your poster as a kind of advertisement! Of course its primary purpose is education, but you have to "reel people in," so to speak, before you can educate them. The next question, of course, is ...

Q: How do I "reel them in"?

A: Remember: think of your poster as an advertisement of sorts. Witty titles are effective --- a good pun or play on words will snag a lot of people. Students have created poster headings that combine a witty title with a scientific subheading. Click here for examples.

Take a at this example

Many poster titles that are straightforward attract a lot of attention too. Click here for examples. Some research topics may have highly specific titles. The best advice we can give to undergraduate researchers (and grad students using this tutorial too!) is to gauge your audience's technical background when choosing an appropriate title.

Colors are good, too, but be careful how you use them (more on that later), and well-done graphics are VERY important. It's a cliché, but it's true: a picture can be worth a thousand words. What you have to do is take all the elements you have --- headings, text blocks, graphics --- and arrange them in a way that's appealing to the eye.

Q: Wait a minute! What should the CONTENT of my poster include?

A: The typical components of a research presentation (and therefore a research poster) include

• Purpose (or Objectives or Introduction)
• Methods and Materials
• Results or Findings
• Discussion
• Conclusions or Summary

Using these headings in your poster leads your audience in a logical progression.

Q: But our lab hasn't reached an end point, so I can't make conclusions! And in my project, I've only collected a little bit of data so I will only have preliminary results. What do we do?

A: Not worry! Your poster content will be influenced by the stage(s) of the research you were involved in. For WISP interns, your 4-5 month long internship is very often presented as a "work in progress", e.g., you may not have "conclusions", your project may have only focused on data collection or refining an analytical method. In contrast, upperclass research projects (senior theses) should be able to address all of the components in a poster.

Q: I just want to be sure about this --- Can you summarize the major concept here?

A: At its simplest, the content of your poster should offer a logical progression that answers the questions: What? Why? How? So what did I/we learn? Keep the "big picture" (the content of the research question) in mind. Remember, you are communicating to a semi-technical audience. Your sponsor and assistant sponsor will be there for advice and guidance as you prepare your poster.

Q: So, getting back to poster design, what's the most important thing?

A: The most important thing is for you to be clear about just exactly what it is you're trying to communicate. Why is your work important and interesting? What's the ONE thing you want people to walk away thinking about? You can't get every last detail onto a poster, so pick what's important and present it clearly. CLARITY OF THOUGHT and READABILITY are the two keys to an impressive poster.

Q: What, exactly, does "readability" mean? I can write!

A: Good writing is definitely a plus! But you also have to present it well visually. Here's the cardinal rule of graphic design: DO NOT CROWD YOUR PRESENTATION. Keep it simple, and use lots of "white space".

Q: "White space"?

A: Webster's defines it as "the areas of a page not covered by print or pictures." Graphic designers tend to think of it as breathing room for the eyes. If you have a poster that looks crammed, people are less likely to try and wade through what you are presenting. Line spacing for blocks of text should be double spaced (if you're using a huge font, you may need to set the line spacing manually). Leave plenty of room between columns of text and between blocks of text and graphics. Your poster SHOULD NOT LOOK CROWDED. Crowded means hard to read, and hard to read means people won't bother to try.

Q: What's this about setting the line spacing manually?

A: Ordinarily, if you click on the double-space button, the line spacing will be set at 24 points --- which is exactly what you want if you're using a 12-point font. But if you're using 18-point type, you need the line spacing to be 36 points. Some software programs will automatically correct for this; others won't. So check it out!

Q: What's the best way to arrange all my poster material?

A: The best way is one that's creative and attention-getting while also being logically readable. Yes, it is possible to be creative and methodical at the same time! Remember, it has to be readable. The poster should flow --- it should draw the reader's eye --- from left to right and from top to bottom. That's how most of us learn to read, and that's how we try to read something we've never seen before. Vertical columns are okay (think newspapers and magazines) as long as you leave enough white space between the columns.

Q: What's the best way to get started on arranging things?

A: It's a good idea to set up some kind of grid for your poster; sketch it on a piece of paper. Then take all those elements --- headline or title, a few graphics, one to several text blocks --- and arrange them according to the grid or pattern you've mapped out. EXPERIMENT with your design before you glue it down --- there are all kinds of ways to arrange your elements. Remember, the final product needs to be logically readable --- that's the only constraint! You can be as creative as you want as long as you meet that goal.