Creating posters to present scientific data

The big push

Once all the contents are in their boxes, what is probably the most strenuous step awaits: “The big push”.

Usually the poster will not look like this sample poster once the content has been inserted. Probably a text will not completely fit in its box, while another will be short and dwarfed by its box. Some figures may match nicely in terms of size and shape, but other figures will refuse to fit in with the rest of the poster.

Now, before you start moving everything back and forth on the poster, let’s take another look at the individual elements:
  • Texts: Are they precise and reduced down to the key message or can they perhaps be shortened or simplified (and thus made more understandable or clearer)?
  • Figures: Might it help to reposition figure captions?
  • Figures: Does the figure size match the box? Is all the content easy to see, all the captions easy to read, and do all markings clearly stand out from the background?

Tips: Ultimately, this step takes patience and finesse. Using alignment tools makes a lot of things easier but doesn’t relieve you of the decisions you need to make. NB:

  • Adjacent boxes should be the same height.
  • Boxes on top of each other should be the same width.
  • It looks more professional if boxes of equal importance are the same size or have an easily recognisable, set size ratio. In the sample poster, the two lower right boxes in the body section are half as high as the box on the left, or the same size as the two boxes above.


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