Technology@Wooster

Creating IS posters

Written by

Dr. Jon Breitenbucher

,

You’ve written your thesis but now your department asks you to take all of that information and put it on a poster. Unsure where to start? The resources below will help to get you started on tips for creating the best poster possible to convey your research and topic. 

Check out our Poster Workshop Slides to get you started.

Suggestions

Design

Titles, Text, and Fonts

  • Font Sizes: at least 88pt for title, 64pt for your name, 48pt for section headings, 36pt for body text
    Font Selection: For readability, use a Sans-Serif font, particularly for headings (ex. Futura, Calibri, Helvetica) 
  • Body Text Formatting: flush left, rag right with 1.5 spacing
  • Body Text:Use bullets and limit the use of paragraphs
  • Limit the use of words. Keep your word count to 800 words or less. Remember your poster is the abstract.

Colors

  • Color should capture attention, but not distract.
  • Use Coolors to help design an appealing palette.
  • Accessibility is another key component of good design. Make sure everyone can read your poster using a contrast checking tool.

Alignment and Whitespace

  • Whitespace is important to allow information to seem less cluttered. Let your text breathe!
  • Grid guidelines can help to keep items aligned

Other Formatting Requirements

  • Use images and graphs to support your argument
  • Final Poster Size: 36” tall by 48” wide; if you leave a 2” margin on the poster edges, the printable area will be about 32” tall by 44” wide  
  • Image ratio is important

Resources

Where to Find Support

Digital Media Bar in Andrews Library

Technology Services and HelpDesk

The HelpDesk is staffed 8:30AM-5PM, Mon-Fri

Educational Technology Staff

Book a virtual appointment with the Educational Technology Professional Staff available via our virtual bookings. (8:30AM-5PM, Mon-Fri)

Jon Breitenbucher, Director: jbreitenbucher@wooster.edu 
Emily Armour, Educational Technologist: earmour@wooster.edu

Poster Design