LFS:Workshops/Poster Design

Planning

Key messages

• What do I want people to take away from my poster?
• What is the most important/interesting/fascinating finding from my research project?
• How can I visually share my research with colleagues?
• Do I use charts, graphs, photos, images?

Sketch out a plan

• Rough layout
  • Plan for multiple columns; 2-3 to break up the text
• Draft the text
  • 500 words is the upper limit (800 for scientific posters)

Software to use

• PowerPoint
• Illustrator or InDesign
• Infographic apps
  • Easel.ly
  • Canva
  • Infogram
    • It also let's you generate dynamic charts
  • And my favourite: Piktochart
    • Tutorials
• Beware the Prezi syndrome. Focus on content.

Design

Templates

• Make sure not to try to squeeze in too many things
• White space & bleeds
• Find templates online, at places like Make Sign
• PowerPoint and Infographic apps have some templates available
  • Your faculty/school/organization may have templates

Colours

• Choosing a palette
  • color.adobe.com
• Contrast
  • Printing is not always precise. Err on the side of caution (i.e. more contrast)

Typefaces

• Keep it in the family
  • Use bold, italic and regular to emphasize and but keep consistency
  • Sans-serif is typically better-suited for titles
  • Serif is better suited to body text
• Sizing
  • Titles: 100pt font or more
  • Subtitles: 48pt-60pt
  • Body font: ~24pt
  • Credits and references: at least 18pt
  • Print and look 6’ away
• Use Whitney for official UBC communications

Resources

• UBC's branding website
  • UBC Brand & Marketing Infographic Guide
• Colin Purrington has a great resource for poster design:

http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign

Examples

• Strong: 1 2 3
• Okay 1 2 3
• Not great 1 2

Photos & Graphics

Visual medium

• Don’t succumb to wordiness

Dimensions

• • Large format printing requires hi-res photos (200ppi+)
  • Print requires many more pixels than screens
    • Want photo to be 10 inches by 6 inches? It should be at least 2000 x 1200 pixels

Copyright concerns

• You have the copyright to your own photos
• Unsplash and Pixabay for photos
• The Noun Project for icons
• LFS copyright resource

Branding

• Use up-to-date logos
• Preserve aspect ratio for all photos, but especially logos
  • Drag from the corner not the side

LFS Photos

• Photo basics
• Here’s a link to our faculty Flickr page, where you can find photos to use: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfslearningcentre/
  • Individual albums: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lfslearningcentre/sets/
  • Make sure to download “original”-sized photos for maximum quality.

Beyond Infographics

• UBC's InfoViz Group
• Tableau
• R Studio
• Google Charts
• Edward Tufte's notebook

Printing

• Budget $5 - $7 per square foot (~$90)
• Plan for printing time
  • Some print shops need 48hrs
• Fabric and vinyl options for portability and durability
• Print in the village with CopySmart (next to the McDonald's)
  • https://copysmart.ca/ubc-print-shop/
• UBC IT's Print Centre is pretty good, as well:
  • https://it.ubc.ca/services/desktop-print-services/printing-services/details-and-pricing

Presenting

• Rehearse your pitch
  • 30-60 seconds explanation
• Print materials
  • Smaller versions of the poster
  • Business cards
  • QR codes can be helpful for links to digital version of the poster or websites

Thanks

Duncan McHugh, LFS Learning Centre