How to Design an Effective Poster
If you are presenting a poster during Celebration of Student Research and Creativity, mark your calendar for one of the poster preparation workshops for ideas and guidelines on how to create a poster. While attendance is not required, these workshops are an important resource. You can also stop by the office (FH 255) to see examples and for personalized assistance designing your poster.
Poster Template
Download the preferred PowerPoint Template 3x4ft.pptx. Please note that these are not displayed on trifolds and do not have to be in this format. Students can use whatever creativity they want to display their project - please note, it is your responsiblity to ensure they will print on a 3x4 poster.
General Poster Design
Message
Your message should be straight forward in a common and meaningful language. Start thinking about how little of the content is needed to deliver the message effectively. Include as little content as possible yet make it complete.
Audience
Consider the audience. During Celebration poster session, you will not have a captive audience. Since the event is open to the entire University and general public, you will not only be sharing your ideas with individuals in your discipline.
The use of jargon, abbreviations or symbols familiar to your discipline or locale should be limited to those that are meaningful for your poster. The use of discipline specific language is appropriate if you are using this information to prepare a poster for a professional event limited to your discipline.
Elements
Title
Your title should tell the "gist" of your research or creative project. Should include concise and interesting language not more than 10 words or longer then two line. Print size should be large enough for people to read that are standing in the next aisle over (ten feet away).
All elements
You should have enough information to answer the viewer's question and make them feel comfortable enough to ask you questions. Complete sentences are not always necessary. Charts, graphs, pictures and other graphic elements help draw attention. Do not repeat information. Remember, information is essential to achieve the purpose of the poster.
Composition
Think about where your eye goes first and how it travels in a circular motion to see all information on a poster. You will need to achieve unity while at the same time be able to identify separate parts. All your headings should be the same color, font and size.
Materials
A brief overview of your findings may be helpful to handout to people as they pass your poster. Handing out business cards or contact information may be helpful to get some feedback on your project or to answer the audience's questions even after Celebration has been finished. Candy is always a helpful tool to bring an audience in to your project.
General Steps to Follow
Posters may be submitted to CINSAM for printing on large premium matte paper in mid-March. Early submissions are greatly appreciated. The last day to submit a CINSAM poster for printing is April 10, 2025. Posters submitted after this date may not be printed.
CINSAM will print the posters for projects in the CINSAM departments (see faculty sponsor department list below).
Please let CINSAM know that you are a Celebration student. Use of PowerPoint is strongly recommended for poster creation although only PDF formats should be submitted for printing. In PowerPoint, set your page to 36" height and 48" width. This helps to avoid distortion of images and text.
Files can be submitted by students from the Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Physics/Geology/Engineering Technology, Mathematics & Statistics, Teacher Education or Computer Science departments to CINSAM.
Use PowerPoint to create your poster. In PowerPoint, set your page to 36 inches for height and 48 inches for width. This helps to avoid distortion of images and text.
Files may be submitted by students from all departments except STEM for printing - if your faculty mentor is in a STEM discipline see above:
