POSTER DESIGN

What we will do is put the face cards on to the second quarter and use this poster project as the last grade for this quarter, you have until Friday to post a finished poster on you blog. with out that post you will rec. a 55% for this project.

Read the following to get a better idea on design

LAYOUT

Keep it simple.

•  Use layout to help the reader to navigate along the page.
• Balance – so it looks OK, neat, ‘right’

          – turn it upside down, if it still looks OK it’s probably balanced OK!

• Using a grid or guide lines can help with layout – Line up text boxes/pictures, etc along a grid pattern.
• In most cultures, we read top Left to bottom Right – put the key info there and try to have a logic flow of the poster ‘story’ along those lines.
•  Think about the height of poster boards place key points in the main level of eye contact.  Avoid putting too much at the bottom.
• Use negative space to your advantage.
• Background pictures – be careful – it can be OK if the picture has lots of ‘white space’ ie a large area of solid color; otherwise avoid them.
• Link the picture/graph and its associated text in a column.
• Headings can be placed in the centre of a poster BUT it really needs to stand out – elements in the corners need not to overshadow it – tends not to work on a ‘busy’ poster; along the top is usually best.
• If you have lots of authors and affiliations/funders – think of putting much of this at the bottom of the poster – perhaps together with further contact details – rather than cluttering the title area.

FONT CHOICE



• Minimise text so the key message stands out!
• Communicate critical points in main body of poster.
• Draft and edit your text before you design the poster. There is spell check on PS.
• Ensure language matches the target audience.
• If you really need to include extra text (eg explanatory, stuff for people who want to read further) – it helps to put this in a colored text box that visually separates it a bit – generally along the bottom.
•  Text centering – OK for titles.

 Use 1-2 fonts only

• Use Sans serif fonts (eg Arial, Tahoma, etc)
• Keep Serif fonts (Times, etc) only for arty stuff like poems or quotes
• Avoid unusual fonts as the printer may not recognise them.
• Max. 7-10 words per line
• be aware of Space between lines