Guide to making effective posters – Style recommendations Layout Text This poster below follows a columnar format of top to bottom Sans-serif font is often recommended for your title and left to right, which make it easier for the viewer to follow. and headings and serif font for your body text. Title Introduction Name & department Discussion Serif Sans Results Serif are the small lines that Sans serif fonts do not contain project from the edges of the small projecting features letters and symbols. called “serifs” Practicum Recommen • Serifs are used to guide the • Sans serif is typically used activities dations horizontal flow of the eyes for emphasis Examples: Cambria, Georgia, Examples: Arial, Calibri, Palatino, Times New Roman, Century Gothic, Tahoma
This poster below is hard to follow as it jumps from the ALL CAPS simultaneously shouts at your viewer and middle, to the left, to the right, and back to the middle. makes it more difficult for them to read your loud message. When we read text, we read whole words and phrases, Title which we recognize partly by their shape.. Methods Name & department Results
Introduction Practicum I have shape which makes me activities easier to read than all caps.
Recommendations I AM A SHAPELESS BLOCK AND MUCH HARDER TO READ. Guide to making effective posters – Style recommendations Graphics Color Any pictures you include on your poster should be of Stick to using dark text on light backgrounds since the reverse good quality (e.g. not blurry or pixelated) can strain viewers’ eyes.
For the majority of About half the population people, reading dark text has an eye condition on light backgrounds (astigmatism) that makes results in the least it difficult to read light amount of eye strain. text on dark backgrounds.
Poor resolution Clear resolution
3D data can be misleading and confusing. Below is 2D When using colors, keep it simple – no more than 2-3 colors, data, yet it looks as though there is a volume component. and nothing overly bright and distracting
100% 80% Red and green are bad Bright colors strain for color-blindness. viewers’ eyes. 60% 40% 20% 0% Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4