Manuel Frias

Don’t dread the poster

2021 · 41 slides · Data viz & presentation

Scientific posters are sometimes considered to be second-rate compared to other forms of scientific communication. I gave this presentation to my colleagues at REC to discuss the potential issues and how to make posters better.

Slide 1 of 41: Don’t dread the poster! Some ideas to stop hating them
Slide 2 of 41: How do I feel when I see a poster
Slide 3 of 41: http://phdcomics.com/
Slide 4 of 41: Well, there are people who literally do copy-paste
Slide 5 of 41: This a section of a real poster presented in a real conference Thanks Seraina!
Slide 6 of 41: A very distant second place at conferences. Missed opportunity I asked some people their Difficult feelings about posters Ugly Time-consuming I hate them Overcrowded with info What a colourful and nice thing that nobody remembers after all.. Boring
Slide 7 of 41: Quite depressing, indeed
Slide 8 of 41: Only three books about posters… Compared to dozens (or hundreds?) about presentations 1999 2017 2021
Slide 9 of 41: They are definitely…
Slide 10 of 41: What’s then the PURPOSE of a poster?
Slide 11 of 41: The purpose of posters is… networking! “We make posters to foster discussions and promote selective, efficient and meaningful interactions” Jean-luc Doumont, Effective research posters
Slide 12 of 41: How NOT to design a poster
Slide 13 of 41: picture slide without text
Slide 14 of 41: Example of a packed suitcase poster
Slide 15 of 41: Let’s design a better poster
Slide 16 of 41: A good poster must… be readable 0,5 – 1,5 m Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 17 of 41: A good poster must… be inviting Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 18 of 41: A good poster must… make the audience care Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 19 of 41: ALL posters have the same structure… WHY Intro – methods – results/conclusions
Slide 20 of 41: A possible alternative…
Slide 21 of 41: Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 22 of 41: What Make audience care (context, need and action to address the need) Messages (convince the audience of what you did) Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 23 of 41: What Who Context (make audience care) Express the need (in first person) Express what you did to address the need Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 24 of 41: State and develop messages Do it visually Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 25 of 41: Jean-luc Doumont: Effective research posters
Slide 26 of 41: The visual design is also important
Slide 27 of 41: Let’s learn four basic design principles with which you can go pretty far ..and with a memorable acronym
Slide 28 of 41: C ontrast R epetition A lignment P roximity Robin Williams: Non-designer’s design book
Slide 29 of 41: Let’s apply them to this poster
Slide 30 of 41: Contrast “If two items are not exactly the same, then make them This captions have the same font size different. Really different” as the body copy.
Slide 31 of 41: Repetition “Repeat some aspect of the design throughout the Add some design element that helps entire piece” create unity. For example, boxes around text or around headings
Slide 32 of 41: This logo is floating and not aligned anywhere Alignment “Nothing should be placed on the This picture is not aligned with the text above page arbitrarily. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page”
Slide 33 of 41: Proximity “Group related items together” Does RESULT belong to the table above or below?
Slide 34 of 41: And don’t forget: grids are your friend
Slide 35 of 41: This poster does not use any grid so it looks like rather messy
Slide 36 of 41: This poster uses a grid so it looks clean and neat. It helps that there is a lot of white space (designers LOVE white space, that is, empty space around elements)
Slide 37 of 41: Wrap-up
Slide 38 of 41: They are definitely… But with a little effort we can make them first-rate!
Slide 39 of 41: The main purpose of posters is… networking!
Slide 40 of 41: picture slide without text
Slide 41 of 41: Simple memorable acronym to imporve your design skills… CRAP
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