Preparing a Poster Presentation

Diomidis Spinellis
Department of Management Science and Technology
Athens University of Economics and Business
Athens, Greece
dds@aueb.gr

How to Setup a Brilliant Poster Stand

Elements that make up a good poster stand:

Drafting the Poster Advice

Poster Examples: Good Use of Color

The following are some good examples of posters that use color to stand out from the crowd. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

18.11.2004
(MSAD 2004)

Poster Examples: Liberal Use of Graphical Elements

The following are some good examples of posters that use graphics to bring their message across. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

18.11.2004
(MSAD 2004)

ICSE 2006
(ICSE 2006)

ICSE 2008
(ICSE 2008)

Poster Examples: Graphics that Tell a Story

The following are some good examples of posters that use graphics to guide the reader through the story. Click on the images for a larger version. See also the interesting layout examples.

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
(EURO XX 2004)

Poster Examples: Interesting Layout

The following are some good examples of posters with an interesting layout. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - 07.07.2004
The layout is self-referential. The work describes the use of Voronoi diagrams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram) for vote districting, and the poster layout follows the same scheme. This poster won the conference's best poster award. (EURO XX 2004)

18.11.2004
(MSAD 2004)

ICSE 2006
This slide (although a bit crowded) uses numbering and nested layouts to guide the reading order. (ICSE 2006)

Poster Examples: Adding Hardware

The following are some good examples of posters that have additional "hardware" elements pasted on them. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - ICSE 2006
The slide includes a folder with a copies of it, and an area for adding comments. (ICSE 2006)

Poster - ICSE 2006
Another approach for collecting comments: a notepad and a pen hanging on a pin (ICSE 2006)

Poster - ICSE 2006
This slide has copies and business cards attached to a paper fastener. (ICSE 2006)

Poster - ICSE 2008
This slide includes a blank area where a projector shows a demo of the software. (ICSE 2008)

Poster Examples: Making do Without a Big Format Printer

You don't necessarily need access to a big-format printer to create a good poster. If you find yourself stranded without suitable hardware (e.g. wanting to create a poster on the spot at the conference) you can improvise by assembling printed A4 sheets, or even by writing and drawing your poster in flip-chart paper. Here are two examples. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - SPLASH 2012
This poster is assembled mainly from printed A4 sheets, placed in an interesting pattern. (SPLASH 2012)

Poster - SPLASH 2012
This poster is written by hand on flip-chart and A4 sheets. The placement of the A4 sheets is used to indicate how they relate to the larger flip-chart sheets. (SPLASH 2012)

Poster Counterexamples

The following are some counterexamples of the poster design techniques I described. To protect the guilty, you can not click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - 24.05.2007
The paper's pages printed on an A0 sheet

Poster - 24.05.2007
The paper typeset and printed on an A0 sheet; this is worse the previous example, because our eye can't follow printed lines spanning half a metre.

Poster - 07.07.2004
Too much and small text, not enough color (EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
Too much information (text and small diagrams), glossy paper (EURO XX 2004)

Poster - 07.07.2004
Too much and small text (EURO XX 2004)

Stand Examples

The following are some good examples of stands following the guidelines I described. Click on the images for a larger version.

Poster - The perfect setup: poster, book, physical demo, laptop, presentation - 07.07.2004
The perfect setup: poster, book, physical demo, laptop, presentation. The board allows the demonstration of Voronoi diagrams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram) using nails and rubber bands. This poster won the conference's best poster award. (EURO XX)

18.11.2004
A live hardware demo (MSAD 2004)

18.11.2004
Closeup of the live hardware demo (MSAD 2004)

18.11.2004
The perfect packing for the demo (MSAD 2004)

Packing List

Bring with you the following items: Don't forget to update your web site, before you leave. Keep copies of the promotional material (leaflet, publication) in a web-accessible directory. You may find them useful, if you need to print additional copies from an Internet cafe, or a public PC room.

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