Layout and design

These videos by researcher and web developer Mike Morrison are a great introduction to layout and design – and how to create better research posters.

Closed captions are available for these videos.

Download the ‘Better Posters’ templates here.

You might also consider an infographic inspired layout for your poster. This article by See Mei Chow for Piktochart outlines visual arrangement for infographic design.

The size and orientation of your poster is normally dictated by the conference, though the conference might offer a maximum size, e.g. ‘up to A0’. Always check the conference guidelines for your poster size. Generally, go for the largest size you can. This helps with clarity and makes your poster more eye-catching.

Consider the layout of this poster. What might the benefits of something like this be?

Think about:

1. What is the message?
2. Who are the audience?
3. What is the environment in which the poster will engage the audience?
4. (How) can the presenter measure the impact of the poster?

You can also download a copy of this poster.

Now consider this poster, which uses a traditional layout.

You can also download a copy of this poster.

What works about it? What doesn’t work? Redesign this poster with a more visual layout, you can sketch out your ideas on paper or in PowerPoint.

Consider these questions as you sketch out your layout – either digitally or on paper:

1. What is the message?
2. Who are the audience?
3. What is the environment in which the poster will engage the audience?
4. (How) can the presenter measure the impact of the poster?

Complete the poster size and orientation section on your planning worksheet, as this will inform your layout. There is also space to sketch some ideas for your poster layout.

Additional resources

• Article: ‘Rethinking the science poster’ by Russell D. Shilling, PhD and David Ballard, PsyD, MBA 

You can download a text only transcript of this video, or a transcript including the PowerPoint slides.

Activity

Include whether the poster will be displayed on screen or in print on your planning worksheet, as this will influence your choice of typeface.

You can download a text only transcript of this video, or a transcript including the PowerPoint slides.

Activity

You may like to write your title last, when you know exactly what content you would like your title to reflect. You can start to pull some ideas together now and add some thoughts to the title section on your planning worksheet. Refer back to the four basics of research communications as you think about crafting your title: 1) what is your message? 2) who are your audience? 3) what is the environment in which you will engage your audience? 4) (how) can you measure your impact?

Additional resources

• Article: ‘How to write a blogpost from your journal article’ by Patrick Dunleavy 
• Article: ‘Writing text for research posters’ by Cally Guerin 
• Article: ‘Titles are the hardest thing: How can we make them more effective?’ by James Hartley. There is an infographic version of this article below.

You can download a text only transcript of this video, or a transcript including the PowerPoint slides.

There is space on your planning worksheet to add some ideas of data or graphics you could include on your poster in response to the video.

Additional resources

• TED Talk: ‘The beauty of data visualization’ by David McCandless
• Vischeck: Vischeck reproduces your images under various forms of colour-blindness. This will help you produce posters which are accessible to those who are colour-blind.

These are some examples of previous winners from the University of Exeter Research Showcase.

• Marketing Strategies for Local Tourism Activities in Saudi Arabia by Latifah Almughayribi
• Developing personalised therapy for children with Crohn’s disease by Neil Chanchiani
• For Change and Charitie by Laura Burnett

Have a look at each of these examples, and make some notes to answer the following questions:

• What is good about the poster?
• Why do you think it won?
• What lessons can you learn and take forward into your own poster design?

This mini podcast features some top tips for poster design from University of Exeter PGRs; Charlotte Spence, Robert Mann and Hannah Barnard.

You can can also download a transcript of this podcast.

Based on your observations of these posters, and the top tips from our PGRs, compile some top tips for poster design which you can use for your own poster. You can add these top tips to your planning worksheet.