Planning Your Poster
Keep these points in mind when creating your poster.
Consider your message:
- The title needs to be brief and explicit.
- The goal is to convey a clear message and support it with a compelling combination of images and short blocks of text.
Consider your audience*:
- Colleagues?
- People in fields closely related to yours?
- People in unrelated fields?
- * Your poster needs to speak to all of them!
- Provide context.
- Use plain language.
- Avoid scientific jargon or acronyms.
- Interpret the findings so that everyone can understand them.
Keep your focus on the topic:
- Stay focused on the message.
- Keep it simple – leave out unnecessary details.
- Keep text simple and sentences short.
Other considerations:
- When do I need to have the poster finished? What is the deadline?
- How large is the poster? How much room do I have for my design?
- How much does it cost?
- See the Springfield College Print Shop for current pricing.
- If you are creating your poster as part of an assignment, ask if your instructor if your department has funds to cover the cost of printing.