POSTERS FOR SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS 

P OSTER SESSIONS have gained increasing 

acceptance and popularity at scientific meetings. 

Although most topics are presentable either as talks 

or as posters, some topics lend themselves best to 

graphic presentation. Many quthors, moreover, prefer 

person-to-person discussions, with their illustrative 

material at hand, rather than speaking to a large 

audience in a formal setting. Authors and attendees 

alike find the opportunity rewarding to exchange 

ideas freely and at some length. Many attendees 

appreciate being able to walk quickly past several 

presentations, scanning each for its general content, 

before returning at leisure to the displays they find 

most interesting. 

Most scientific meetings now allow abstracts to be 

submitted for either an oral presentation or a poster 

presentation. Abstracts for poster presentations are 

published in the proceedings of meetings along with 

those for oral presentations, and they carry the same 

prestige. At the larger 3- and 4-day meetings, poster 

sessions commonly run for half a day each, and 

authors are expected to be present while their posters 

are on display during a specified period, generally 2 

hours. During each of these half-day sessions as many 

as 30 to 60 posters may be displayed, so competition 

for attention is keen. At smaller gatherings, a single 

group of posters may be shown during the whole 

meeting. . 

PLANNING THE POSTER 

Good science coupled with uncluttered and colorful 

design, brief and legible text, and concise organization 

equals a good poster. As a participant, you should 

learn specifically where the display area is (by map or 

number designation) as early as possible and the size 

and orientation of the display boards. Individual 

display areas commonly have tack boards mounted 

long-side horizontally at eye level and measuring 

about 4 by 8 feet. Three boards of this size commonly 

are joined to form a booth. Vertically placed display 

boards should be discouraged. They crowd the available space and cause design problems because much 

of the display area is well above or below eye level. 

You need to know the dimensions of your display 

boards, and whether the long side will be horizontal 

or vertical, before you begin to design your poster; a 

call to the sponsoring society is necessary if this information is not given with notification of acceptance 

of the abstract. Also knowing in advance the color of 

the display board may prevent a clash with the colors 

of the poster. As a rule of thumb, allow 6 weeks of 

discontinuous work to prepare an attractive exhibit, 

to allow time to print photographic enlargements, to 

gather all needed materials, and to actually execute 

the poster. 

New and exciting ideas based on sound research can 

draw deserved recognition through a well-written 

abstract and an eye-catching poster design. However 

important your work, you must recognize that 

attendees at a scientific meeting most likely have not 

read your abstract before they walk into the display 

area. Their attention will invariably be drawn to 

crisp, clean posters and snappy titles. The title, composed months before, must be directed toward this 

strolling audience. Think of the title as a newspaper 

headline vying for attention. Once the viewer's attention has been caught by a display tbat looks interesting, all aspects of the design and the science will 

work together to keep or lose that attention. 

The story you tell must be interesting and your 

research must be sound, but neither need be uncontroversial. Work that encompasses other disciplines 

and has broad applications or implications is most 

likely to be accepted for poster presentation and most 

likely to receive feedback. 

Authors commonly try to tell too much. Use 

restraint and present only enough data to support 

your conclusions. Modesty here, however, is not a 

virtue-the significance and originality of your work 

should be made clear to viewers who may be unaware 

of the extent of your contribution. 

The subject of design is complex, and rules can 

be broken creatively and pleasingly if you have an 

artistic flair. A few guidelines, however, will help you 

make a poster more accessible, attractive, and 

interesting. 

242 Posters for scientific meetings 
From 10 to 15 feet away the viewer should 

glimpse an easy-to-read title and a nest uncluttered arrangement of illustrations and text. Your 

name should not be hard to find. Where to start 

looking and where to go from there should be 

obvious-generally left to right, top to bottom, 

like a comic strip. The component parts may be 

numbered to facilitate reading, or arrows Can 

graphically lead the viewer tkirough the display 

(fig. 55). 

Leave some open space in the design., When you 

have finished the design, as when you have 

packed a suitcase, take out half. Tightly packed 

space tires the eye and the mind. 

Use elements of different size and proporti~n. 

Same-size, same-proportion components make for 

a boring design. For areas of particular emphasis, 

try different shapes. Curved shapes or lines 

attract the eye if most other lines are straight. 

Straight lines draw attention if others are curved 

(fig. 56). 

A large or bright center of interest-a bold cross 

section, a colorful paleogeographic map, a blownup 

photograph of a new species or of an outcrop-will 

draw the eye to the most important point of the 

poster. For a modest price, poster-size color prints 

can be made from 35-mm slides or negatives at 

most photographic shops. Computer graphics can 

be enlarged, reduced, and manipulated in various 

ways. 

Emphasize simplicity. Make all illustrations bold 

and simple. Leave out unnecessary detail. 

Convert tabular material to graphics. Try scatter 

plots, bar graphs, triangular diagrams. 

Actual rock specimens or fossils add a nice touch 

of authenticity. They can be fastened to poster 

board with silicone glue or wires. Display large 

specimens on a table. 

Make a scale drawing of your tentative layout and 

have a few colleagues criticize its overall design. 

Lettering, Line Weights, and Color 

Lettering should be legible 5 feet away; senior 

scientists should not need a reading glass. Minimum 

type size should be no less than 18 point and the style 

should be bold or semibold in clean and simple letters. 

Title lettering shodid. be. about 2 to 3 inches high, 

subheadings 112 to 1 inch. Office- and art-supply stores 

have a wide variety,of stick-op and rub-on letters in 

various colors and sizes that are ideak'fb~ titles and 

subheadings. The sponsoring organization may choose 

to prepare the title, for uniformiQf, but take along 

your own in case theirs is too small. For lettering 

Title 1 

Title 

Figure 55. Two methods of leading viewers through 

poster: numbers and arrows. 

I Title I 

Figure 56. Attention-getting combination of curved and 

straight shapes and lines. 

other than titles and subheadings, use uppercase and 

lowercase letters in combination. 

Uppercase type-all in capital letters-is harder to 

read than lowercase type. If you don't believe it, contrast this paragraph with the one below, which is 

printed in capital letters only. Words cast in uppercase have less diversity and character than those in 

lowercase and, therefore, are less quickly caught and 

recognized by the eye and mind. Slow recognition 

slows comprehension. All-cap type is fine for short 

titles but not for sentence content, either in the body 

Planning the poster 243 
of a report or in the brief captions for a poster session. Do your reader a favor by using lowercase type. 

UPPERCASE TYPE-ALL IN CAPITAL 

LETTERS-IS HARDER TO READ THAN LOWERCASE TYPE. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IT, CONTRAST THIS PARAGRAPH WITH THE ONE 

ABOVE, WHICH USES CAPITALS JUST TO FLAG 

THE FIRST WORD OF EACH SENTENCE. 

WORDS CAST IN LOWERCASE HAVE MORE 

DIVERSITY AND CHARACTER THAN THOSE IN 

UPPERCASE AND, THEREFORE, ARE MORE 

QUICKLY CAUGHT AND RECOGNIZED BY THE 

EYE AND MIND. QUICK RECOGNITION ENHANCES COMPREHENSION. ALL-CAP TYPE IS 

FINE FOR SHORT TITLES BUT NOT FOR SENTENCE CONTENT, EITHER IN THE BODY OF A 

REPORT OR IN THE BRIEF CAPTIONS FOR A 

POSTER SESSION. DO YOUR READER A FAVOR 

BY USING LOWERCASE TYPE. 

Serif typefaces are easier to read than sans serifs. 

The serifs (feet) add character to the letters and 

enhance reader recognition, which in turn increase 

reading speed and comprehension. Sans serif typefaces are appropriate in brief headings or titles, 

where they can be eyecatching, but they should be 

used elsewhere with discretion. Contrast this 

paragraph with the one below: 

Sans serifs typefaces are harder to read than serif 

typefaces, because the serifs add character to the 

letters and enhance reader recognition, which in turn 

increase reading speed and comprehension. Sans 

serif typefaces tend to be dull and tedious. They are 

appropriate in brief headings or titles, where they can 

be eyecatching, but they should be used elsewhere 

with discretion. Contrast this paragraph with the one 

above. 

Text material can be typed (about 12-point size) and 

then enlarged on a copying machine to as large as 24 

point without serious loss of clarity, if a carbon ribbon 

and a clean type element are used. This method is 

the least expensive way to produce neat-looking text 

material (fig. 57). Text may also be enlarged photographically. For a professional appearance, use a 

lettering machine that produces strips of stick-on 

text. Apply these lines of text in final size to plain 

white paper, then photograph them so the glossy tape 

will not show. 

Both the typed lettering and the stick-on lettering 

can be combined with black-and-white line drawings 

before the final copy (copy-machine enlargement or 

photograph) is made. All drawings of maps, diagrams, 

fossils, cross sections, and other figures should use a 

line weight that will be no thinner than 0.70 mm 

(No. 2 pen) in the final product. Bolder lines are 

preferable. Keep the drawing simple by omitting 

extraneous details. 

Color is as complex a subject as design and in fact 

is an element of it, but there are no set rules for its 

use. Some authors prefer muted colors; others like 

deep or bright ones. Any color can be attractive, 

within some constraints. The temptation is to use 

color everywhere. Don't. The viewer's eye will jump 

erratically around the poster instead of tracking 

through it to the crucial points. The less important 

parts of the poster-the necessary background information and supporting data-will seem to recede into 

the background, as they should, if done in cool blues, 

greens, and grays. The featured parts can then be 

highlighted in warm reds and yellows, black if the 

background colors are soft, or white if the background colors are bright or deep. In choosing colors, 

be aware that lighting in the display area may not be 

optimal. 

Color should be applied to the black-and-white drawings after they are photocopied unless the cost of 

color printing is no object. Transparent or opaque 

sheets of stick-on color provide the most even shading, preferably with a nonglare matte finish. Colored 

stick-on tape comes in widths of %, to 2 inches. Flexible tape can be used for linework. Tape is perfect 

for bar graphs and histograms, for borders, and for 

leaders from one element of the poster to another. 

Colored stick-on dots, squares, and triangles are 

available in various sizes. Large colored arrows can 

be cut from stick-on tape or from stick-on color 

sheets. 

Subtropical swamp traversc 

region, the pantanal. 

reported. Most related i~ 

geophysical, geomorphic, 

Figure 57. Typed text enlarged on a copying machine 

to about 24 points. 

244 Planning the poster 
Computer Printouts 

Computer printouts are poor copy for posters. The 

standard type size is too small and the line weight is 

too thin. Computer programs are available, however, 

to enlarge (or reduce) maps on printers or on digital 

plotters. If printouts are used, enlarge the tabular 

material to improve legibility; add color with stick-on 

tape to enhance lines and enliven graphics. 

Text 

The text should be extremely brief, or most of the 

viewers will walk away without reading it. Some 

authors like to include their full abstract as part of 

the poster, but few viewers will read it. Expect more 

success from a succinct statement of major conclusions at the head of the poster-perhaps as an expanded subtitle. Present the supporting text in brief 

segments along with the appropriate illustrations, and 

make the significance of the findings forcefully clear 

at the end. Aim for "Wow!" from the viewers as they 

walk away. Handouts of the abstract may be made 

available for those viewers who are really smitten. 

MOUNTING, PACKAGING, AND DISPLAYING 

All poster elements should be mounted with an 

adhesive on poster board or on %inch foam-core 

board so they will lie flat. For a cleaner look, mount 

the caption on the same board as the illustration. A 

half inch or so of the colored poster board extending 

beyond the edge of the illustration makes an attractive frame. Select the mounting color carefully to 

avoid overpowering the picture. Illustrations mounted 

on white foam-core board can be edged with colored 

stick-on tape. 

Your poster may have to be taken to a distant convention. To avoid the panic of lost luggage if you are 

traveling by air, make the poster elements small 

enough to package within the carry-on dimensions, 

generally 17x 22 inches, but call the airline to be sure. 

You may have only a short time to set up your 

display, so prepare for it in advance, and have the 

following items in an emergency kit: 

tape measure 

9-foot length of string 

box of clear push-pins (longer than standard if 

mounted illustrations are thicker than one-eighth 

inch) 

box of thumbtacks 

box of dressmakers' round-headed pins 

roll of double-stick tape 

scissors 

glue 

package of tissue paper. 

Have a sketch of the poster layout, showing 

measured positions of a few key components, so you 

will know where to place them. Set up a level line, if 

needed, by tying the string between push-pins set a 

measured distance above the bottom of the display 

board. The poster elements can be fastened to the 

board without visible attachments, as shown in 

figure 58, or can be attached with the push-pins (or 

dressmaker's pins) or with lots of double-stick tape. 

When you remove the display, if you've used doublestick tape, you'll need to put sheets of tissue paper 

between the components when stacking them to keep 

them from sticking together. 

Figure 58. A method of using concealed thumbtacks to 

attach poster elements to the display board. You can 

also use Velcro. 

(1 Attach tabs to back of mounted illustration. 

Leave upper half of tabs free. 

(2) Push thumb tacks through upper half of tabs. 

(3) Push illustration against bulletin board. 

The professional-looking poster just discussed has 

an attractive counterpart. If artistically inclined, you 

can sketch a poster entirely by hand. Follow the same 

science and design guidelines as above, but execute 

with colored felt-tip markers on poster board of pleasing complementary or neutral color. Text material 

equivalent to a minimum of 18-point type is easy to 

do by hand with felt markers over lightly penciled 

guidelines. The less formal result is fast and inexpensive, and if neatly and imaginatively done can have a 

very special charm. 

The alternative poster 245