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MIS610 – Creating an Academic Poster
What is an academic poster?
• Academic posters summarise information or research concisely and generate discussion. It is
widely used in the academic community. Most conferences include poster presentations in their
program.
• An academic poster summarises a complex topic without losing meaning or connection. It is
designed to communicate clearly, concisely, and visually. It should also be self-explanatory.
An effective poster is a visual communication tool
• It shows. It expresses your points in graphical terms. Displays the essential content, the
messages – in the title, main headings and graphics.
• It considers the intended purpose and who is the intended readership.
Decide what you need to communicate, and how
• What is your main message about the research topic?
• What does your viewer need to know about the topic?
• Identify the key points, always keeping your topic or task in mind.
• Once you’ve decided on the main content, make a rough draft of the information you need.
• Decide on the main title.
• Note the graphics you might need, such as photos, diagrams, graphs or charts.
Visual Impact
• Posters are designed to convey a message quickly and efficiently. What should your readers see
and understand first? Think about what will communicate your key points most clearly. Find a
focal point that will help draw your readers in. This might be a key flowchart or diagram, or
simply a clear main title.
Layout
• Use images and text in simple shapes like squares and circles (perhaps using shading to show
the areas you want to stand out most).
• Once the basic layout is planned you can consider graphic and text formatting in more detail.
• Format headings and subheadings consistently. This helps structure your information
visually.
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• For clarity, use a sans-serif font like Arial or Helvetica. Make sure there is good contrast
between text and background. To be legible at a distance, the main title should be around
70-100 pts, subheadings around 40 pts, body text around 24 pts.
Use of graphic
• An academic poster should be both professional and concise, so a general rule is only to include
graphics that really support your content.
• Use diagrams, graphs or flowcharts to help explain complex information visually.
• Try not to use too many different or strongly contrasting colours. A limited colour palette can be
very effective.
• Avoid using unnecessary and distracting background textures or decoration.
• If your topic has a central statement, graphic or diagram, make this prominent in your design.
Don’t hide it in a corner!
• Every graphic should have a purpose.
How to produce a poster?
• A variety of software can be used to produce an academic poster. One of the most popular is
Microsoft PowerPoint, with a key advantage being that most computers have PowerPoint
installed as standard.
• Using PowerPoint you can integrate a range of media, produce diagrams and flowcharts easily,
and create custom charts and graphs from your data.
Poster size
• Choose Portrait or Landscape orientation.
• You can customize the slide size.
• To print effectively, images should be high resolution (150-300 dpi).
A0 118.9 cm x 84.1 cm
A1 84.1 cm x 59.4 cm
A2 59.4 cm x 42.0 cm
A3 42.0 cm x 29.7 cm