This means using large fonts and mixing text with pictures, graphs, and diagrams. It is a good idea to put poster text in bulleted points rather than paragraphs, Goward continued, and to use colour as long as it is not distracting. In addition, page numbers or arrows help to guide readers' eyes through the sea of text and graphics. For panelist Rhonda Rosychuk, a PhD candidate in Statistics, producing her first poster was a struggle. Rosychuk used PowerPoint to design her poster and printed it on a 3' by 4' sheet of paper - an attractive but expensive and cumbersome format.
Posters are more portable if they are made out of multiple, smaller sheets or rolls of paper.
Poster help is available at UW, she added, suggesting that first-time presenters consult with experienced colleagues and faculty, the Information Systems and Technology Help Desk, and Graphics. People cruise posters at conferences for many reasons, said Dr. Barbara Moffatt. Posters must be presented in a way that meets each viewer's needs. She gets a sense of her viewer's background and interests, and tailors her presentation accordingly, emphasizing whatever makes her poster and research different from others. Many conferences have poster competitions and judges who do not identify themselves as such.