SCIENTIFIC POSTERSBronwyn Dobchuk-Land, ITF

Fall 2014

What is a scientific poster?• Large format document• Concise summary of research used to generate interest• Displayed at conferences for academic audiences• Readable in under 10 minutes

• TODAY:• Design principles• Evaluation of examples• How-to• Seminar 3 Conference details

Basic elements• Title• Authors• Affiliations• Introduction• Hypothesis• Materials and methods• Results• Conclusion • Literature cited• The Macaulay Logo (see course site)

• NO MORE THAN 800 WORDS IN TOTAL!

Examples

What makes some posters better than others?

https://www.flickr.com/groups/pimpmyposter

(more examples: http://f1000.com/posters/browse)

Key mistakes• Too much text• Dark background• Illogical order• Too busy• Too many colors• Small or inconsistent font size• Pictures with bad resolution

Designing your poster• Use templates in order to ensure there is an underlying

structure • http://makesigns.com/SciPosters_Templates.aspx• http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign• http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/cornelisse14/poster-templates

• See course site for ppt file templates with font size and color guidelines

• Make a sketch first!

5 design hacks:• From http://betterposters.blogspot.com/2009/08/entry-

points.html

• Pictures• Headlines• Pull Quotes• Circles• White Space

Title & Authors

Think about Flow

Title & Authors

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Title & Authors

Title & Authors

Using text• Break it up! Use bullet points or numbers.

• Make sure your font colors stand out against the background

• Use appropriate font sizes:• Titles and Headings: 40-70pt• Body text: at least 14pt

• Use consistent colors to guide the reader• Ex. One color for headings, another for body text

Using images• Use high-resolution images (at least 300 dpi)

• Use your own photos (make sure your camera is set to a high resolution)

• Do not use images you don’t have permission to use• Flickr creative commons licenses• Google search for open-access images (select large size)

• Cite your images (guidance here: https://www.lakeforest.edu/library/guides/images.php)

Citing sources

Nuts and Bolts• See course site for step-by-step How To using powerpoint

• Powerpoint is standard but you may use other design programs• Use Page Setup to set your dimensions• 36” x 48” (or 48” x 36”)• Use text boxes to enter text elements• Insert > Picture > From File• Add arrows, lines, and circles using Lines or AutoShapes

• Print out a draft and check for layout, colors, and legibility

Poster Printing

• Printing is free at Macaulay Central on a first come, first served basisBring your poster on a flash drive in its original .ppt format and as a PDF

• Bring your poster on a flash drive in its original .ppt format and as a PDF

• Visit Michael Parascandola in “the batcave” during one of the following times:• Friday, November 21, 10am-4pm• Monday, November 24, 10am-7pm• Tuesday, November 25, 9am-4pm

Seminar 3 Conference• Look for the email this week for conference registration

• Registration will close at the end of this week

• At the conference:• Prepare a 2 minute “elevator pitch” presentation• One group member will be at the poster at all times• The others will rotate and peer review other student posters

• Practice your presentation. • Be conversational, talk to your viewers not the poster, focus on

what is interesting about the topic, match your clothes to your poster colors