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Making Your Poster Stand Out

A Guide for the Postdoctoral Research Symposium

Creating a research poster is a critical skill to effectively communicate your work at academic conferences and symposiums. This guide serves to provide you with key tips and best practices to help you create a compelling poster for these events. A well-designed poster allows you to present your research findings in a clear, concise, and visually appearing manner, making it easier for the attendees to engage with your work.

Before you begin, think about the posters you’ve seen from others, and consider what you liked or didn’t like. Were there any particular posters that stood out to you? What do you think made that poster so awesome?

Key things to remember when designing your poster:

  1. Be intentional about every decision
  2. Ensure every element on your poster has a purpose
  3. Keep the design consistent

I. Know your audience

Adjust the level and amount of background information based on who is likely to come by your poster.
Consider these questions
  • What fields are conference attendees coming from?
  • What range of background knowledge are they likely to have?
For this Symposium...
  • Attendees come from across Pitt and represent a broad range of fields. You may study neuroscience, while your judge is a dental scientist – be prepared to provide more background information than you would at a more specialized meeting.
  • Avoid the use of jargon unless absolutely necessary and always define the term if you MUST use it.

For more tips, check out our Jargon-Free Presenting Guide »

II. Simplify your story

Like a paper, a poster should be self-contained (i.e. your reader should be able to easily understand every element of your project in your absence). Unlike a paper, a poster should focus on 2-3 key findings that support the main message you want your audience to walk away with.
To begin, consider these questions about your research
  • What is the most important/interesting/astounding finding that I want to share with conference attendees?
  • What is the best way to visually share my key findings? Should I use charts, graphs, photos, images, schematics?
  • How can I use my talk to complement my poster?
Prepare two versions of your presentation
  • Prepare a quick 2-3 minute overview for those who are “just browsing”
  • Prepare a slightly longer 5-10 minute presentation for those who want to know more (like your judges).
  • Keep in mind that your judges often have just 15 minutes at most to spend with each presenter.

III. Have fun with the title

Make it engaging and informative but keep it short and sweet. It should capture attention while giving a clear idea of your research topic.
Feel free to creatively incorporate pop culture or other social references
  • E.g. “Release your inhibitions: The cell biology of GABAergic postsynaptic plasticity”
  • E.g. “To the synapse and beyond: characterizing the regulatory mechanisms for α5 GABAA receptor distribution in hippocampal neurons”

IV. Design matters

A. Section Hierarchy & Layout
Ensure logical flow for reading and presenting – from top-to-bottom and left-to-right
  • Typically, posters are arranged in 2-4 in columns (often of varying widths) – columns make each line shorter, and thus, easier to read. However, research shows that the typical poster design isn’t truly the most effective way to convey your message.
    • Lastly, check out the Additional Resources Section at the end of this guide for more videos and discussions about #BetterPoster and #EvenBetterPoster designs.
    • Also, check out this video from the same person about controlling where on your poster people look by using size differences to trigger depth perception. Watch Here »
    • Check out a FANTASTIC video about an eye-tracking study asking which poster designs capture attention and facilitate learning as intended vs which designs create clutter and hinder learning. Watch Here »
  • Adding numbers to your section headers helps the reader move from section to section in the order you intend.
  • Arrows or other subtle visual cues can also help your reader navigate your poster, especially if you choose a more unique layout.
  • Pro Tip: Practice your presentation before printing to ensure the design facilitates the flow of your presentation. (A hard-learned lesson when this guide's author attempted to use a unique layout for the Postdoctoral Research Symposium in 2023.)
Ensure visual balance and readability
  • Each section should have a clear purpose: Introduction/Background, Methods, Results/Findings, Conclusion/Discussion.
    • Note: Your abstract does not need to be on your poster.
  • Wherever possible, use images and schematics rather than text to convey your message.
    • ​Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.
  • Avoid overcrowding: aim for approximately 25-30% text, 40-50% visuals, and 25-30% whitespace.
  • Keep text to a minimum: aim to use no more than 1,000 words (yes, that includes the legends)
    • “Blocks of text” (i.e. a paragraph) usually take too long to read and can be overwhelming.
    • Use bullet points to ensure your content is easy to read quickly (aim for the poster to be understood in 5-10 minutes without you there).
  • Use text styling (bold, italic, underline) to highlight key points or important information.
B. Font & Font Size
Stick to one or two fonts
  • Ideally, use only one font. Two fonts can be used if, for example, one is for headers and the other is for everything else.
  • Sans-serif fonts (like Arial, Calibri, Aptos, etc.) work best for posters, especially for the titles and headers.
Ensure readability from 3-4 feet away, with the most important information easily readable from at least 6 feet away
  • Do not use a font size smaller than 18 pt.
  • General font size ranges by section:
    • Title » 72+ pt
    • Subtitle/authors & affiliations » 48-80 pt
    • Section headers » 36-72 pt
    • Body text » 24-48 pt
    • References » 18-24 pt
  • Here’s a Printable Font Size Reference »
    • Download the one for posters UNDER 56 inches
  • Pro Tip: Print your poster on a standard piece of paper (8.5x11), and make sure the text is legible when held ~1.5-2 feet away (approximately arm’s length).
Be consistent with your fonts and font sizes

Keep all headers the same, keep all body text the same, etc. This makes a profound impact on the overall appearance.

C. ​​Color
Strategic use of color helps emphasize points, make distinctions, keep track of various groups or conditions, and more.
Color-coding is great, but too many colors can easily get confusing
  • Try to use no more than 5 different colors, including in any schematics that are displayed. Shades of the same color can be used to distinguish related but different elements.
  • Use a combination of both shapes and color to relay your message in graphs and schematics.
  • Use neutral tones (black, gray, tan, etc.) in schematics for elements that help orient your audience but are not critical to the schematic’s take-away message.
Use high-contrast and color-blind-safe color combinations for accessibility & inclusivity (8% of all males are affected by color vision deficiency)
  • Avoid red/green and blue/yellow color combinations.
  • Magenta, cyan, and yellow are accessible for all three types of color vision deficiencies.
  • Pro Tip: use Color Oracle to check your color schemes. It’s a free Java-based download that can apply a full-screen color blindness simulation filter, independent of the software in use.
Note: When your poster is printed, the colors may appear slightly different (likely duller) than they do on your computer screen, especially bright colors. If possible, design your poster using CMYK to mitigate this (some programs allow you to change between CMYK and RGB colors; PowerPoint is not one of them).
RGB » used by digital screens
  • Adds light to create colors
  • Has more color capabilities than CMYK
CMYK » used by printers
  • Subtracts color to create colors
  • Peferred color model for printed materials like posters, brochures, and business cards
D. Image & Figure Quality
Use high resolution images to avoid pixelation
  • Aim to use image files with 300dpi resolution. Do not use files with a resolution below 150dpi.
  • Pro Tip: If you have a lot of images, this may make your file too large to print. If you’re using PowerPoint, you can reduce the file size by removing any cropped areas and/or compressing images.
    • Select an image and go to the “Picture Format” tab. Click on “compress pictures” (toward the top-center-left), select the box that says “delete cropped areas of pictures”, make sure the box that says “apply only to this picture” is not selected, select the appropriate resolution (be careful not to compress too much), and then hit OK.
  • Import your images directly rather than copy-pasting or linking them from another program.
  • Double-check your image quality by viewing them at 100% zoom (they should not appear blurry or pixelated).
  • Avoid using images from the internet – they are usually low-quality.
  • Pro Tip: Export images with larger dimensions than needed. I’ve noticed that pixelation is more likely to occur when an image needs to be enlarged. This is especially true for PNGs from BioRender.
    • Note: Counter-intuitively, exporting BioRender images as PNGs sometimes requires a lower resolution setting to ensure proper image quality, especially with a transparent background. You might need to play around with it (or learn about vectors vs bitmaps).
Avoid overly complex figures
  • Simplify graphs and tables to highlight the key ideas
  • Ensure consistency in figure style (font, font size, color scheme)
  • Pro Tip: Include QR codes to provide extra information like video data, published papers, and more. Suggested sizing: 1in x 1in
Label all figures clearly and summarize the key takeaway message in the figure title and/or legend (author’s preference: summarize the figure in the title and minimize legends as much as possible.)
  • Numbering the figure title (instead of the legend) can help lead your audience through the poster in your absence.
  • Keep your figure legends as short as possible. They don’t need to be in-depth like they would for a paper.
    • Pro tip: include statistics in the methods and n values, labels, and other helpful details directly in the graph/figure to save space in the legends.

V. Final Considerations

Things to consider before printing your poster
  • Does your department have a poster printer? If not, where do they suggest you print your poster, and/or where do others print?
  • What is the printing timeline? How far ahead of an event do you need to submit a poster to ensure it’s printed on time?
  • Do you get to make any draft copies, or are you only allowed a single print?
  • What file formats are required? Are there file size limits?
  • What are the maximum printable poster dimensions? Does the conference have poster size limits?
    • For this Symposium, posters should be no larger than 4' high x 6' wide.
Common software for making posters
  • PowerPoint (author’s preference)
  • Adobe Illustrator (free for use on your personal computer through Pitt’s Software Download Services at my.pitt.edu; warning: this program has a steep learning curve)
  • BioRender (online, free through Pitt – use your Pitt email to log in at biorender.com)
  • Canva (online & app, free with ability to upgrade to paid plan)
  • Mind the Graph (online, free trial then subscription plan)
Last-minute poster checklist
  • Is the title clear and engaging?
  • Are all the sections of the poster present and distinguishable?
  • Are all the figures properly labeled?
  • Is the font size readable from 2-3 feet away?
  • Are key points easy to find at a glance?
  • Are there any typos or grammar errors?
  • Is your poster the correct poster size?
  • Is everything consistent?

VI. Additional Resources

#BetterPoster Designs
Videos
Other Resources and Similar Guides
Free PowerPoint poster templates

Conclusion

A well-designed poster is an essential tool for communicating your research in an engaging and accessible way. By following these guidelines, you can design a poster that effectively highlights your work, captures the attention of viewers and facilitates meaningful discussions.