MRI Resources

Basic Poster Design

Planning

First . . .READ THE INSTRUCTIONS supplied by the event planners!

Having an idea about these details before you begin will make the whole process much easier.

1. What's your message? Determine the one essential concept you would like to get across to the audience. Everything you put on your poster must relate to that message. You must be able to state your main point(s) and conclusion(s) clearly and succintly. All visuals and text should relate to those points and conclusions.
   
   
2. Re-read your abstract once again - are those statements still accurate?
   
   
3. Determine the size of the poster (if you had read the instructions, you should already know this!) The size will help determine:
   • what you can fit,
   • what you'll have to leave out,
   • layout (landscape -vs- portrait orientation),
   • and how things will be organized
     
     
4. Gather the information. Determine if you have all the elements you'll need for the poster: Photos? Do you have the data you will need? How much time will you need to prepare the data for presentation (tables, graphs, etc.)? Outside agencies? Does material need to be sent out & returned (photographic services, collaborators)?
   
   
5. Set a schedule - define your milestones. This is especially important if the poster is multi-authored.

Poster Tip: Start with the due date and work back to create milestones - allow time for peer review and heavy editing. Example Schedule

Continue on to: Focus