St. Elizabeth Healthcare Clinical Ladder

Effective Posters

General Format

1. Determine the one essential concept you would like to get across to the audience. 2. Re-read your abstract/outline/content, etc. again – are those statements still accurate? 3. Determine the size of the poster (may be pre-determined by others). 4. Determine if you have all the elements you’ll need for the poster: poster board, glue, razor blades, data, need for outside materials, i.e. photos.

Sketch it Out! 1. Make a sketch of the poster. 2. Arrange the contents in a series of 3,4, or 5 columns. This will facilitate the flow of traffic past the poster a. The title will appear across the top b. A brief introduction (3-5 sentences) will appear at the upper left. c. The conclusions will appear at the lower right. d. Text, the ‘meat’ of the story will fill the remaining space. The Title

1. THINK BIG!! It should be readable from 15 – 20 feet away. 2. Use abbreviations where possible. 3. The final size of letters in the title itself should be about 1.5 – 2 inches tall, about a 96 point size. 4. Authors (if using) names may be printed smaller, at 72 points (1 – 1.5 inches). 5. Use a simple, easy to read font. A san serif/serif style font such as Times, , Geneva, , Century Schoolbook, , and Prestige. a. Choose one font and use it throughout the poster. 6. Use boldface and all-caps for the title itself. 7. Use boldface and mixed upper/lower case for affiliations.

Use of Color 1. Mat board is available in a large range of colors. 2. Muted colors, or shades of gray, are best for the background. 3. Use more intense colors as borders or for emphasis, but be conservative – overuse of color is distracting. 4. Use a light background with darker photos; a dark background with lighter photos. 5. Use a neutral background (gray) to emphasize color in photos; a white background to reduce the of colored photos. Poster Text

1. Double-space all text, using left-justification. 2. The text should be large enough to be read easily from at least 6 feet away. ¨ Section headings (Introduction, Methods, etc.) sans serif/serif font, 36 point, boldface ¨ Supporting text (Intro text, figure captions, etc.) same font, 24 point, boldface if appropriate. ¨ Narrative details should be brief and no smaller than 18 point. 3. Posters primarily are visual presentations; the text material serves to support the graphics, photos, etc. 4. Look critically at the layout. If there is about 20% text, 40% graphics and 40% empty space, you are doing well. 5. Use short sentences, simple words, and bullets to illustrate discrete points. 6. Avoid using jargon, acronyms, or unusual abbreviations. 7. If using borders allow approx. 0.5 inches all around each figures. Border colors can be used to link related presentations of data. 8. Add emphasis by using boldface, underlining, or color; italics are difficult to read. Miscellaneous

If you pay attention to these four concepts as you put the visuals together, the end products will be effective.

1. Make it BIG 2. Keep it Simple 3. Make it Clear 4. Be Consistent 5. Be Creative