Creating a Poster Presentation

1. Creating a PosterPresentation

2. Overview • An engineering poster is: • A large document to communicate your work • Is composed of: • A short title • An introduction to your burning question • An overview of your trendy experimental approach • Your amazing results • Some insightful discussion of aforementioned results • A listing of previously published articles that are important to your research • Some brief acknowledgement of the tremendous assistance and financial support conned from others • If all text is kept to a minimum, a person could fully read your poster in under 10 minutes. CHS School of Engineering

3. Purpose To inform readers • Progress • Results • Implications • Further research • Practical applications To persuade readers. . . that you know what you are doing! CHS School of Engineering

4. Audience Posters usually aimed at experts But, know your audience’s level of sophistication • Decide which terms need defining • Using good illustrations will make your job easier Be prepared to give oral explanations at much simpler and more complex levels CHS School of Engineering

5. How people decide which posters to read • Time available • Interest in topic • Attractiveness of poster CHS School of Engineering

6. How do people read posters? • Use keywords and make title text large and legible • Scan poster title • Look at pictures • Read captions • Read text • Add eye-catching graphics • Write informative captions • Tell an interesting story • Biggest, boldest objects get attention first CHS School of Engineering

7. Title = Headline • Make title intriguing to draw readers in • Avoid RI&A (Ridiculous Initialisms & Acronyms) that slow down readers • Capitalize only first word and proper names • Big enough to be read from 10' away • Sans Serif type • No more than two lines of type CHS School of Engineering

8. Use big, strong clear images Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful condition of the hand and fingers caused by compression of a major nerve where it passes over the carpal bones through a passage at the front of the wrist, alongside the flexor tendons of the hand. It may be caused by repetitive movements over a long period, or by fluid retention, and is characterized by sensations of tingling, numbness, or burning. • Label significant parts with callouts • Write informative captions Carpal Tunnel Consider a poster entirely made up of pictures and captions! CHS School of Engineering

9. Choosing the communication for the message Increasing popularity CHS School of Engineering

10. Target Audience:Peers • Objectives • To be acknowledged within your research community • To find research partners • Title • Same as the published paper. • This type of poster is explained by the researcher during a poster session CHS School of Engineering

11. Target Audience:Specialists, but not experts • Objectives • To be recognized by industrial partners and academics • To reach new target audiences • To explain the laboratory research • To find a job for yourself • Title • Appealing in order to capture and retain the attention of the reader. • This type of poster is explained by the researcher CHS School of Engineering

12. Target Audience:Peers • Objectives • To be acknowledged within your research community • To find research partners • Title • Same as the published paper. This type of poster is explained by the researcher during a poster session CHS School of Engineering

13. Tell an interesting story Combine text and graphics to make it interesting Design poster so it is easy to follow the story CHS School of Engineering

14. How people read text New method for disambiguating E. Rascal2 Loremipsum dolor sit amet, consectetueradipiscingelit, seddiamnonummy, nibheuismodtinciduntlaoreetdolore magna aliquameratvolutpat. Utwisienim ad minim veniam, quisnostrudexercitationullamcorpersuscipitlobortisnislutaliquip ex ea commodoconsequat. Duisautemveleumiriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputatevelitessemolestieconsequat, velillumdolore et fuegiatnullafacfacillisis at veroeros et accumansan et iustoodiodignissim qui blanditpraesantluptatumzzrildelenitaugueduisdoloretefeugaitnullafacilisi. Loremipsum dolor sit amet,consectetueradipiscingelit, seddiamnonummy, nibheuismodtinciduntlaoreetdolore magna aliquameratvolutpat. Utwisienim ad minim veniam, quisnostrudexercitationullamcorpersuscipitlobortisnislutaliquip ex ea commodoconsequat. Duisautemveleumiriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputatevelitessemolestieconsequat, velillumdolore et fuegiatnullafacfacillisis at veroeros et accumansan et iustoodiodignissim qui blanditpraesantluptatumzzrildelenitaugue Possibly an ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem Madisonum dolor sit amet,consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue Never lis lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla For facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue  Top to bottom • Left to right People scan, looking for familiar words and phrases CHS School of Engineering

15. Why would you make a poster like this? People read text  Top to bottom  Left to right CHS School of Engineering

16. Start Finish Most important Least important Organizing a poster Note how lots of white space separates elements Title goes here: use keywords to attract readers Subhead 1 Blah blah, blah, and blah, blah, and blah, blah, blah, blah, and blah, blah, blah, blah blah, Caption blah, blah, blah, and blah, Source of data blah, blah, blah CHS School of Engineering

17. Poster-making Software Page layout applications: • QuarkXPress • Adobe InDesign • LaTeX Also try: • Adobe Illustrator • CorelDRAW • Omnigraffle • PowerPoint • usable, but not as many features as the others • important to change defaults Poster template files for many of the above programs can be found on the internet by conducting a search in Google for “poster template” and then adding the application name (e.g., Powerpoint). CHS School of Engineering

18. How much text? No more than can be read in just a few minutes CHS School of Engineering

19. What size text? • Text should be readable from 6' away • Text size depends on width of column • Wider the column  bigger the text • BUT: hard to read really wide columns Never, ever incorporate "web" graphics without extreme caution. Most web images have 72 dots per inch of resolution, but printing at that resolution looks absolutely terrible, and the figure will be a huge turn-off to prospective viewers. And never, ever assume that your mentor has, or can find, a high-quality image to give you -- if they have anything, it is usually something pulled of the Internet. If you have access to a digital camera, use it to get a high quality photograph of your study setup or organism (e.g., your Drosophila mutant, a close-up of your Arabidopsis in flower). Memory space is cheap on a digital camera, so take 100 photographs to ensure that at least one has crisp detail, good composition, non-distracting background, etc. Sometimes to get the perfect shot you will need to seek out a microscope that has a camera attached to it. Run your best image through Photoshop to adjust contrast, image size, and sharpening. It should look professional when printed; if it does not, start over. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam no nummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore et fuegiat nulla facfacillisis at vero eros et accumansan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesant luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam no nummy, nibh euismod tincidunt laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad min. CHS School of Engineering

20. What kind of text? • Roman/serif font OK for body text • Times • Palatino • Lucida Bright • Constantia • Bookman • Use italics instead of underlining for emphasis • Left alignment (Don't justify CHS School of Engineering

21. Empty space (white space) • Makes poster more readable and less overwhelming (=less boring) • Use only half of your poster for text • Leave room for graphics • Leave empty space = NOTHING! CHS School of Engineering

22. Note extra space between items Layout should follow principles of document design • Hierarchy • Some elements are more important than others • Proximity • Keep related items near one another • Alignment CHS School of Engineering

23. Layout: Hierarchy • Organize ideas in logical order • Leave plenty of white space • Provide navigational aids • Use subheads before each section • Avoid generic subheads whenever possible Introduction Methodology Conclusions Why study Oxymorons? Giggles-per-hour test apparatus Toast is 27x more likely to land butter-side-down CHS School of Engineering

24. 3. Side mirrorsImpact Testing 1991–2003 Over the course of the experiments, we removed the side mirrors from large equipment and replaced them with hanging “lucky” rabbits feet. Fig 4. Replacing side mirrors resulted in an increase in accidents Our results clearly indicated that Leporidae feet had a negative effect on operators, distracting them while they were operating heavy equipment. After the loss (Fig. 4) of a third test vehicle, we were denied permission to continue our experiments and a number of imprecations were hurled at the observers. Layout: Proximity Keep related elements together • Subhead goes right under head • Illustrations go next to text • Captions go right under illustrations • Illustrations discussed in text CHS School of Engineering

25. Layout: Alignment Line up text and images to help readers understand process Use flush left alignment for text CHS School of Engineering

26. Alignment with Powerpoint HOW TO Align a group of objects Hold down SHIFT, and then click the objects that you want to align Choose the alignment you want and click Background Methodology Implications CHS School of Engineering

27. Poor layout 1997 Map of Panama, showing route of the Panama Canal The Panama Canal is about 50 miles (80 km) long, across the Isthmus of Panama, that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its construction, begun by the French under Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1881, was abandoned in 1889 and was completed by the U.S. between 1904 and 1914. Control of the canal remained with the U.S. until 1999, when it was ceded to Panama. Plans call for widening the canal to accommodate modern freighters. Profile Map of the Panama Canal CHS School of Engineering

28. 1997 Map of Panama, showing route of the Panama Canal Profile Map of the Panama Canal Better Layout The Panama Canal The Panama Canal is about 50 miles (80 km) long, across the Isthmus of Panama, and connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Construction, begun by the French under Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1881, was abandoned in 1889 and was completed by the U.S. between 1904 and 1914. Control of the canal remained with the U.S. until 1999, when it was ceded to Panama. Plans call for widening the canal to accommodate modern freighters. CHS School of Engineering

29. Parts of a poster ✔Title • Short, simple, catchy explanation • Follow with names of researchers Abstract • Unnecessary on a poster • Waste of space CHS School of Engineering

30. Parts of a poster ✔Introduction/background • Give bare minimum needed to understand your hypothesis/problem statement • ✔Experiment: Materials and methods • Describe experiment • Great place to use graphics • Flow chart • Photographs • Diagrams • ✔Design: Explain reasoning • Why design was chosen • Why design has good chance of success CHS School of Engineering

31. Parts of a poster ✔Results • Did experiment work? • What happened? • Show and discuss data collected ✔Conclusions • Was hypothesis supported? • What happens next? CHS School of Engineering

32. Parts of a poster ✔Literature citations • List only articles you actually used • Follow standard citation style for your field ✔Acknowledgments • List people who helped you • List sources of funding ✔Further information • How can people reach you if they have questions, comments, job offers, Nobel Prizes, etc. for you CHS School of Engineering

33. The End Just one more thing Don’t forget your spiel: Prepare a short oral explanation of your project using the poster as a visual aid. Keep it simple—you may have to repeat it 100 times! Make it adaptable to different audiences CHS School of Engineering

34. Acknowledgements • Purrington, C.B. 2009. Advice on designing scientific posters. http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm. Accessed October 23, 2009. CHS School of Engineering

35. Smaples CHS School of Engineering

36. Smaples CHS School of Engineering

37. Smaples • http://www.flickr.com/groups/368476@N21/pool/ CHS School of Engineering