A good poster will:
- Summarize your work
- Be readable from 4 feet away
- Convey a message visually
- Be clearly organized
Poster Design Tips
(Adapted from the University of Maryland’s Undergraduate Research Day website)
- Posters should be 36″ x 48″
- Use large text (your text should be at least 40 pt.)
- Do not use more than 2-3 font styles total
- Use fonts that are easy to read
- Avoid too much text (no more than 600 words max)
- Organize your content with columns, sections, headings, and blocks of text
- Choose a title that illustrates what your poster is about. Your title should be at least twice the size of your regular text.
- Choose colors carefully and pay attention to contrast. If in doubt, dark print on light background is best.
- Selectively incorporate charts, graphs, photographs, and other graphics that support the theme of your poster
- Avoid fuzzy images; make sure all graphics are high-resolution and easily visible
- Include your name on your poster and the Penn State Wilkes-Barre logo
- Edit your poster carefully before the final print-out
Poster Resources
- Advice on Designing Scientific Posters, (Colin Purrington blog, Swarthmore College)
- Academic Posters (Edinburgh Napier University)
- The Basics of Poster Design (Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium)
- Designing Effective Posters (University of North Carolina)
- Poster Resources and Design Tips (University of Nevada, Reno)
- Poster Sessions (The Writing Studio, Colorado State University)
- Poster Creation and Presentation (Penn State University Libraries)
- Presentations: Billboard Science Nature 483, 113-115 (2012) doi:10.1038/nj7387-113a
- Tips for poster design (Penn State University Libraries)
Software and Templates
Although people use a variety of different software packages for designing posters, this year we are encouraging everyone to use Microsoft Power Point. We have created three sample templates to get started. Note that these are only guidelines. Be creative!
- poster_template_36_x_48-001 (Portrait Orientation)
- poster_template_48_x_36-001 (Landscape Orientation)
- poster_template_48_x_36-002 (Landscape Orientation)
Required elements are:
- Size must be 36″ x 48″ OR 48″ x 36″
- The Penn State Wilkes-Barre logo somewhere on the slide (see above for logos)
- A title
- Name(s) of presenter/team
Training
- Undergraduate Research Day poster slides
- Google Car example, start-to-finish
- Google car, final version
Submitting Your Poster
Before submitting your poster for printing, review carefully, and use the Quick Poster Checklist provided by the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium.
- We will print your poster for you
- The final deadline to submit a completed poster is Wednesday, April 22, 5:00pm
- Save your final poster in Adobe PDF format
- Please use the Final Poster Submission Form to send your poster
The Planning Committee will arrange posters in the presentation hall in Hayfield House. Please view our Undergraduate Research Day poster slides for more information.