Aesthetics Workshop

Aesthetics of Research posters

Aesthetics WorkshopHow To Get Your Research Poster Noticed

IntroductionA research poster is a summary of your research in a visually engaging way; it is an advertisement of your workScientific posters are presented at conferences and enable collaboration, support, and feedback from people in your field

Anatomy Of A Research PosterTitleAbstractIntroductionMethods (this is where images and graphs come in handy)ResultsConclusionsReferencesAcknowledgementsContact Information

Layout and Format Are CriticalA well composed poster communicates what you want to say better, and will be taken more seriously (Think how confusing it would be if you were reading an essay and your paragraphs were scrambled out of order)

(Also) If your poster looks good, it will incentivize others to look at it!

Organized flow

goodnot so good*Tech Tip*Lets begin.To properly format a PowerPoint to your posters size:Go to the Design tab and select Page SetupA dialogue box will open enter the height and width of the page, and the slide orientation (portrait or landscape) should automatically adjustIf the rulers are turned on ( in the View tab check the Ruler box), you will be able to see that the slide is now the size you entered*Tech Tip*Can anyone read your body text?To get a better idea of what your poster will look like when its printed, use the zoom feature of PowerPoint

Take the vertical dimension of the print size and divide it by the vertical dimension of the page setup size in your PowerPoint 4232 poster: 42 32 = 1.31 1.31 100 = 131%Enter 131 into the Zoom Percentage box and click OK

Always be aware of your audienceMake it easy for people with any type of background here at Ames to be able to understand the basics of your project

Good Posters Have Unique Features Not Pertinent to PapersYour poster tells a story of what you did, both descriptively and visually

Describe a few main points with words, but keep text to a minimumIf you include graphs, dont overcomplicate them with too many specifics

LESS IS MORE!Simplify your design format based on the poster size criteriaFormatting DosHigh contrast between the background and text

What you see on your screen may not look the same in print

It has been proven that visual aids (charts, graphs, diagrams, images, etc.) increase the effectiveness of research posters

But be sure the visual aid is significant & informative (it should be able to stand alone without an explanation!)

Things that make a poster difficult to read:More than two different fontsit distracts people

The easiest fonts for most peoples eyes to read are Arial and Veranda

Shadow or glow effects are not helpful either.

Busy backgrounds make thingsbusy

+Visual CuesClear large titles

Nice flow of poster

Use concise wording and larger font

Sometimes pictures or graphs can say more than words

Just remember to keep graphs simple and easy to follow

Web images are usually poor resolutionWhen you think youre doneRead it through and make sure its not too longA person should be able to read your poster in about 7-10 minutes

Stuck? Ask yourself:If a person was only able to take one thing from looking at my poster, what would that one thing be? you have your theme!

Ask for help if you need it! (and help others if theyre stuck)

Be your posters wingmanSmile! It will attract more people to your poster

Introduce yourself and your project

Start with a short summary of your projectThink of it as an abstract of your abstractDont simply read your poster out loudReview what you want to say the day before

This is your time to share all the work youve done during your internship, so dont be shy!

Treat everyone as a potential collaborator, employer, or someone who just wants to learn more

Bring paper copies if you can

Resources www.ccmr.cornell.edusnras.blogspot.com/2013/08/nasa-extends-internship-for-uaf.html makeposters.com http://chem.virginia.edu/