Poster presentations

Introduction
I A poster is a combination of text and graphics whose aim is
to advertise your work in a visually pleasing presentation.
I In some ways, poster presentations are better than oral
presentations because
I You can interact more with people who are interested in
your work.
I they are less stressful.
I you can selectively view the work of others.
I and you can focus on aspects of your work that you feel are
most important as you discuss your poster face to face with
others.
Introduction
I People tend to spend three different phases of time in front
of posters.
I Some questions that instinctively go through a viewer’s
mind when looking at your poster are these:
I Is it the right subject material for me?
I Is it at the right level of detail?
I Is it presented in such a way that I can easily understand
the main points or principles?
I Is it interesting?
Content
I You need to have some idea of what to cover, what will go
into your poster and how large the poster should be before
you can start putting it together.
I For a research-based project, you might want to focus on
information such as research methodology, your findings,
results and conclusions.
I For a software development project, you might want to
discuss the requirements, designs, implementation issues,
user feedback and the like.
Content
Regardless of your project topic, include these essential
sections in your poster.
I Title. Normally, this is your project title (or title submitted to
the conference).
I Name and affiliation/course details/contact details as
appropriate.
I Introduction/overview/summary. This should not be an
abstract but an introduction to what your project is about -
providing the audience with a general idea of what you
have achieved and what the poster is about.
I Conclusions. What are the main findings from your work,
what is its contribution?
I Acknowledgements.
I References. Include these if appropriate but do not list so
many that they take up a large area of space.
Note: An average reader could read the entire poster in ten
minutes maximum.
Size and shape
Make sure you know how large the poster should be when
planning what to put in it.
Usually posters:
I are printed in at least A1 size (84cm  54cm) but A0 is
more usual (around 119cm  84cm).
I are normally produced in landscape rather than portrait
format but it does not matter which orientation you use as
both forms are usually acceptable.
Layout
To decide the layout of a poster you should:
I Start by drafting your poster on paper.
I The content should be arranged so that it progresses,
firstly down columns and, secondly, from left to right in a
logical sequence.
I A suggested content for posters is that around 25% of the
poster should be text, 45% graphics (figures, pictures, etc.)
and 30% should be white space.
Figure 1: Sample poster layouts
Layout
I Another way to design your poster is to use a template. If
you search for “poster template" on the Internet you will
find a number of predefined templates produced for
different software packages.
I Another useful resource is http://www.ePosters.net.
Font
I Try to use the same font throughout your poster (although
headings and titles could be in a different font to smaller
blocks of text)- do not change from one section to another
(even on figures and charts). This consistency adds a
professional touch to your poster.
I Arial is a good, readable font to choose for posters.
I In terms of font size, as a general rule of thumb, never use
12-point type or smaller for a poster. The minimum type
size for poster text is 14 points, while titles and section
headings will obviously need to be much larger.
Colours
I the choice of colours can make or break your poster.
I choosing clashing colours or colours that do not contrast
very well can make your poster unreadable.
I softer colours tend to work well for backgrounds, while
foreground text should be presented in bold colours to
make it stand out.
I make sure that the colours you choose for backgrounds
and foregrounds contrast well. However, do not go for
white text on a dark (black) background either. While these
colours may contrast well, the overall appearance of the
poster can be difficult to read.
Examples
Figure 2: Poster example 1
Examples
Figure 3: Poster example 2
Examples
Figure 4: Poster example 3
Examples
Figure 5: Poster example 4
Examples
Figure 6: Poster example 5
Examples
Figure 7: Poster example 6
Software
There are a number of software packages available to produce
posters.
I Specialist desktop publishing packages such as
QuarkXpress, Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Publisher.
I Graphics or drawing packages; examples include
CorelDraw, OmniGraffle, FreeHand, and SmartDraw.
I Microsoft Word
I Microsoft PowerPoint, this allowed text and graphics to be
inserted on the page, colours to be set, lines to be drawn
and, importantly, spelling to be checked.