Library Services: Designing Academic Posters: Guidelines

Design Guidelines

Simple guidelines to follow for a visually pleasing poster

Basic advice for design

A simple design is best.
Make important information "jump out" at the viewer.
Line content up - use common margins.
Blank space is good - let the content breathe.

Layout: Use columns to arrange the content. 4 or 5 equal-width columns are recommended; some of the columns can be double-wide. Choose a layout that works best for your content (including text, charts, graphs, images, etc.)

Background: Use white or a subtle color/gradient. Don't make it compete with your content!

Try this!

An example of a poster with a clear design. — This poster has content segmented out in blocks with clearly-defined headings. The background color is white. It is easy for the eye to move between the blue headings to the gray text and graphic blocks beneath.

Avoid this!

An example of a poster with low contrast, a busy background pattern, and clashing colors. — This poster would be very difficult to read. The background is light yellow with a repeating red and orange floral pattern. It has blue heading with light gray text and graphic blocks, but they are almost indistinguishable due to the busy background image.

Section Headings:

Make them stand out by using a larger font, bold type, and/or color boxes. Use separate text boxes for the headings so that they are easier to edit or format separately from the text in the sections themselves.

Try this!

An example of a poster with clearly-defined headings. — The heading blocks are larger than the text beneath. The heading box is light blue with a darker blue for the text. It is easy to read the section title.

Avoid this!

An example of a poster with poorly-defined headings. They are within the text block, not separated out for clarity. — The heading blocks are on the same line as the rest of the text. While the heading text is larger than the text, they are both written in the same font color. It is difficult to distinguish between the heaeding and the section text.

Font and Font Size:

Use sans-serif fonts that are easy to read. Avoid novelty fonts or serif fonts. Use the same fonts and font sizes consistently for the same type of content. The below examples are just suggestions to help you get started:

Recommended font sizes:

Title: bold, size at least 70 pt
Authors: 40 - 50 pt
Headings: 36 - 44 pt
Body text: 20 - 24 pt
Captions: 16 - 18 pt

Suggested fonts:

Myriad Pro
Arial
Calibri
Verdana

Fonts to avoid:

Bradly Hand
Times New Roman
Segoe Script
Jokerman

Try this!

An example demonstrating recommended fonts for clear poster design. — Fonts to use when creating your poster are sans-serif fonts such as Myriad Pro, Calibri, Arial, or Verdana. These fonts are easy to read at many sizes.

Avoid this!

An example demonstrating fonts that are not recommended for posters. — "Fun" or "goofy" fonts such as Bradly Hand, Segoe Script, and Jokerman should be avoided when creating a poster. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, can also be difficult to read when viewing a poster up close or from far away.

Colors:

We all love colors.... but, on a poster, colors cannot be distracting or cause the viewer reach for their sunglasses! For our college, you can incorporate the Springfield College color palette into your design, or pick your own color scheme.

A good suggestion is to use neutral colors complemented by bolder text boxes for titles and headings. If you have a particular color scheme that is associated with your topic, use that. If you have images with a certain color scheme, those colors could also be used as accent colors on the poster.

Example poster using the Springfield College color palette:

Example poster using the Springfield College color palette:

Other samples for pleasing color combinations:

Text color:

Make sure to use contrasting colors for the text and its background. Remember that simple is best. Use dark lettering on a white or light background. Avoid using white/light text on dark background for a large amount of text, as it is hard to read.

Try this!

An example of good text/background color combinations.

Avoid this!

An example of bad text/background color combinations.

Content alignment:

The content, headings, text, charts, and other graphics is important as well. Make everything line up, and at the same time let your content breathe. Don't be afraid to use blank space in between elements - it actually draws attention to your content and makes it easier for the viewer to follow your points.

Try this!

An example of a poster with good alignment.

Avoid this!