Poster Guidelines: GIN2005-2 Conference

The Greening of Industry Network, October 20-22, 2005

(The following guidelines are adapted, with thanks, from Clark University www.clarku.edu. For further suggestions and presentation ideas for different kinds of posters, try a Web search on “conference poster guidelines”.)

Send a 200-300 word summary by email attachment to GIN2005-2@greeningofindustry.org, using the Proposal Format. Poster display space is available in two sizes, 48" high by 48" wide, or 48" high by 96" wide (122cm x 122cm, or 122cm x 244cm). Please specify which size you are requesting. Posters may be attached to the display stands with push pins or Velcro patches which will be provided.

Posters should be easy to read and not crowded. They should contain the following

· Title (at least 1.5" high)

· Name of author(s), institution, and faculty sponsor(s) (at least 1" high)

· Generally, for studies in the physical, biological and social sciences, the main body of the poster consists of abstract, introduction, method (subjects, procedure), results, discussion, illustrations (tabular and/or graphic) which are used to support major points of the text. Lettering should be at least 3/8" high.

· As a courtesy to participants at the meeting, consider making reprints of the poster presentation available.

Sample Poster Arrangement

TITLE OF POSTER Presenter’s name, affiliation, country
Abstract	Method	Table 1
Introduction	Results	Table 2
Figure 1		Conclusion

Guidelines for poster design
The information below contains suggestions for organizing your poster content and designing an effective poster. If you plan to create your poster using computer software, Adobe Illustrator (not Photoshop) or CorelDraw (not CorelPaint) are recommended.

The purpose of a poster is to convey information. The most important goal in poster design is to present your information in such a way that it is accessible and understandable. Every element on the poster—whether text or graphic, should be chosen and arranged to further that goal.

Posters are different from books or articles in the way they convey information. People view a poster from both far away, and close up. Your design, title and subheadings, which will be noticed from a distance, need to be eye-catching. Your detailed text needs to keep the audience reading when they move close. Poster space is very limited. Make sure that every element counts—nothing should be extraneous. Your text should be as concise as possible.

Know your audience. Will they be other scholars in your field, or people with no expertise in that area? Posters are often viewed by lay people. Write to your audience. Think carefully about the language you use and the assumptions you make about the viewers’ knowledge. Don’t use technical language or jargon unless you’re sure it will be familiar to your audience. An indication of how familiar you are with your subject is evidenced by how well you can convey it. Don’t use three words when one will do; don’t use a three-syllable word when a one-syllable word will work as well. Keep in mind also that your poster will be competing with others for attention.

There are two elements in a poster: text and graphics. Text includes titles, subheadings, captions, labels and "body text"—the narrative. Graphics can include maps, charts, diagrams, illustrations or photographs.

STEP 1:

Think about what size you’d like your poster to be, and actually look at a piece of paper at that size. You may need to modify the size after you work out your content. Also think about whether you want it in landscape or portrait format.

STEP 2:

Outline your content. An effective presentation includes

• Problem statement: what are you investigating
• Problem context/literature review (optional depending on space available)
• Methodology: how did you go about doing your research
• Discussion of data
• Conclusion
• Directions for further research

Think through the types of text: title, subheadings, captions, etc. Generally, you will not have room to devote more than one or two paragraphs to each of the above. You will also want to include acknowledgements and perhaps information on sources.

A slightly different way to organize your information would be to follow the problem statement with the conclusion. A nice touch is to provide copies of your poster in 8 ½ by 11 format that people can take away with them. Include a way to contact you in case they want more information.

STEP 3:

Write a rough draft of between 500 and 1500 words, depending on the poster size you plan to use.

STEP 4:

Decide on appropriate accompanying graphics, for example, photographs, maps, artwork. Convert text and tables to graphics when possible.

STEP 5:

Design your poster. This can be done in one of two ways. You can design the whole poster on the computer and print it out on a single sheet using a program like Corel or Illustrator. Alternatively, you could print out the different components at 8 ½ x 11 size (or A4 size) and paste them neatly on a piece of poster board, or attach them individually to the provide poster space. Either way, think of your presentation in unified modules—groups of text and related graphics—that are presented in an ordered form.

STEP 6:

Make a draft copy and proof read. Try it out on friends and colleagues. Print the final copy.

Design Guidelines
Think hierarchically and reflect that hierarchy in your design. The most obvious way to do this is by varying size. Categorize your text: title, secondary headings, tertiary headings, captions, body text, graph labels, source, acknowledgements, Assign each category a level of importance and assign each category a style consisting of text size, color, style, etc. Stay consistent. For example, the headings "problem statement" and "methodology" would probably both be secondary headings. Make them look the same. Make the differences in importance obvious. When you read a page in a book (in English), you begin at the upper left, and move your eyes from left to right and from up to down. A poster may work somewhat differently. It presents a lot of information to view at once. Use devices—arrows, numbers, letters-- to help the reader know where to start your story and what order to read it in. For an English-reading audience, it’s good to stay fairly close to the left/right, up/down reading pattern. Background shading can be used to group things (for example, a block of text and a graphic) that go together. Proximity indicates that items are related or should be viewed together. Where possible, express points as bullets rather than paragraphed text.

• Use only one font: vary it according to size, boldness, angle (italics or not); avoid ornate fonts
• Italics are standard for use as captions
• Keep narrative text at about 18 points (½ inch height of capital letter) or larger
• Make your title not less than 1" in height—bigger if possible
• Title and subheadings should be readable from 5 feet away
• Make the space between your lines of text about 133% of the text size. For example, if your text is 18 points high, your leading should be about 1.33 x 18 or 24 points
• Lines of text in a text block should usually contain about 7-8 words on average. Changing text size or block width can help you make adjustments
• Keep your capitalization consistent. Generally, in a title, prepositions and articles (of, the) are not capitalized unless they begin the title.
• Place blocks of text on white or a very pale background. Avoid light lettering on a dark background except for titles/headings where text will be large. Make sure contrast between background and text is strong and visible from a distance.
• Use the title as a way to state the conclusion. For example, instead of saying "A Study of Automobile Emissions Generated at Drive Up Windows" say: "5% of Air Pollution Derives from Cars Idling at Drive Up Windows" or "Drivers Spend an Average of 7.2 Minutes Idling at Drive Up Windows"—phrase in such a way as to get the reader’s attention .
• Keep color use to a minimum and use it consistently

• Every graphic should have at minimum, a caption. Graphs and charts should have a title, with fully labeled x and y axes. Unless there is a wide variation in the sizes of graphs, make their component parts consistent in size and coloring. If your using a 14 point x axis label in one graph, do the same in all. If your type is blue in one graph, make it blue in all graphs.
• Align, align, align! wherever possible. Creates a sense of order
• If you’re printing your poster on the computer, leave at least a ½ inch margin all the way around

Design Don'ts

• Don’t use all capital letters in a heading
• Don’t feel compelled to cram too much into the space available—leave some white space
• Don’t center any portion of text except possibly the title. In general, left-justify text. Captions may be an exception depending on how they’re positioned next to the graphic.
• Don’t use multicolor gradients
• Don’t use boxes with rounded corners
• Don’t add meaningless graphics—every graphic should have a purpose
• Don’t justify blocks of text on both sides

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