A thread on designing poster presentations. I love poster design because there are so many good ways to make a poster. But like any presentation, simple design strategies can optimize communication. Compiled by @__Matt_Carter__ . 🧵1/21
The advantage of posters over slide presentations or published papers is that they allow for direct communication with others about a focused project. I actually met both my Ph.D. advisor and postdoc advisor when presenting posters! 🧵2/21
Scientific posters can be designed with multiple layouts and formats, yet all have sections similar to those in a scientific paper. 🧵3/21
Unlike written papers, posters don’t need abstracts (even if you wrote one for the conference program). On posters, abstracts are wordy and take up space, even if written in a smaller font size. 🧵4/21
The best poster titles are declarative conclusions. Because poster titles are the one statement that all passersby will read, they are the ultimate way to communicate your take-home point. 🧵5/21
Highlight your research goal/hypothesis that is the rationale for your project. Consider placing it in its own section or highlighting it at the end of your background section. I actually use a different colored font so it stands out. 🧵6/21
Use results sections to declare major conclusions. Each section should be titled with a declarative conclusion, and then the data within that section should provide evidence for that conclusion. 🧵7/21
Highlight the major conclusions at the end of your poster. I actually use the same colored font used to highlight my goal/hypothesis so the reader visually connects these statements. 🧵8/21
De-emphasize acknowledgements and references. While these sections are important, they are not as visually appealing relative to your actual content. Shrink the font size and place them at the bottom of your poster. 🧵9/21
Try to reduce the amount of text as much as possible. There is an inverse correlation between the amount of text on your poster and the probability that someone will want to read it. 🧵10/21
Choose backgrounds that aren’t distracting. Backgrounds should be just that—backgrounds that don’t overwhelm what is placed in front. 🧵11/21
To help your audience focus on one poster section at a time, visually unite the content within each section its own box or under a visually striking heading. 🧵12/21
Choose fonts that are easy to read. On posters (as well as other media that are read from a distance) sans serif fonts are best. For example, Helvetica, Arial, Calibri, or Myriad Pro. 🧵13/21
To see how large text appears before your poster is printed, it can be helpful to print text with various font sizes on a standard piece of paper. Tape it to a wall and refer to it when making your poster. 🧵14/21
Poster titles (and the titles of individual sections) are easiest to read in “sentence case.” 🧵15/21
Eliminate extraneous visual elements or decorations for maximal clarity. I avoid using distracting color choices, unnecessary numbering of individual sections, and… dare I say it… institutional logos. 🧵16/21
Let your text and figures breathe with plenty of surrounding white space. Rather than making your poster look desolate, the right amount of spacing between items increases their impact. 🧵17/21
At a poster session, display your poster in a way that is professional and aesthetically pleasing. Sloppy poster display can make a great poster look sloppy itself. 🧵18/21
Consider the possibility of providing supplementary information to visitors that are impossible to present on a printed poster. For example, a tablet/computer to show movies or play audio recordings. 🧵19/21
I have traditionally used PowerPoint or Illustrator to make posters—but there are newer, amazing tools to make posters, including BioRender’s new poster making software. 🧵20/21
Would love to hear your own ideas about designing posters. Feel free to also contact me on my personal twitter account, @__Matt_Carter__ . These ideas were selectively taken from Designing Science Presentations. 🧵21/21
I have loved hosting @iamscicomm this week! Here is a summary thread with links to all of my other threads on presentation design. Feel free to contact me after this week at my personal account @__Matt_Carter__ . Would love to hear from you!
General design skills as they apply to science communication:
About “Better Posters,” also called “Billboard Posters” or “Posters 2.0.” I’m sure others will disagree with me (which is fine!), but while I admire the innovation and creativity, I greatly dislike this idea. Let me explain why….
The ultimate goal of science posters is to communicate complex information and to have meaningful conversations with others. If you design with that definition in mind, “Better Posters” is not the better option.
The idea behind “Better Posters” is to replace most of your poster with a large, declarative statement about your science and a QR code with a link to figures/data if visitors want more.
A thread on designing visually appealing slides. There are lots of great books/websites/videos about making slide presentations—this thread will focus on quick visual design tips that are easy to employ. Compiled by @__Matt_Carter__ . 🧵1/25
The power of slides as presentation tools is that they allow you to show your audience whatever you want them to see whenever you want them to see it. This is a powerful advantage over a paper, poster, or handout. 🧵2/25
Because there are only a modest number of elements that constitute a slide, the design choices you make about each can greatly affect the clarity of your information and tone of your presentation. 🧵3/25
A thread about using photographs and images in academic/science presentations (written by @__Matt_Carter__ ). Even if you have never taken a photography class, there are simple tips you can employ to improve the pictures you use/choose. 🧵1/19
We typically use photographs for one of three reasons. First, photos are great for showing examples of research subjects and experimental paradigms that convey information difficult to express in words. 🧵2/19
Second, photographs present qualitative data. For example, histological images show data about tissue specimens. Photographs of gels and blots from molecular experiments show evidence about gene and protein expression. 🧵3/19
A thread about using fonts/typography in presentations. Decisions about text matter. Just as you can speak the same word in many ways, the way you write text can affect communication, emotion, and attitude. 🧵1/19
Some basics: Fonts are commonly characterized as serif fonts or sans serif fonts. Serifs are little projections that hang off the ends of letters. Sans serif fonts do not have these projections. 🧵2/19
Serif fonts are great for printed words on a page. In fact, the purpose of the serifs are to guide the eye in reading text from left to right on a page. This is why most journals/books/magazines use serif fonts. 🧵3/19
A thread about using color as a design tool in science presentations. Color is a great tool to separate different categories of information, to highlight information, or to establish an emotional tone. 🧵1/20
Color is best when used deliberately. When color is used to decorate rather than to design, important information can be obscured, and slides and posters can look like a trip to the circus. 🧵2/20
The most fundamental colors are pure hues: a color’s purest identity. 🧵3/20