1. Effective Poster Design

2. Three Steps
1. Preparation
2. Design for Impact
3. Assess

3. Step 1 Preparation
• Define your audience
o 3 seconds to catch their attention
o 30 seconds to secure their attention

4. Step 1 Preparation
• Distill your message
o You have limited time, so choose wisely
o Select a statement, photo, or diagram that will
attract attention
o This is your three second hit

5. Step 1 Preparation
• Organize your information
o Divide your information into main sections
o Example:
oTitle
oIntroduction
oProduct
oBenefits
oDrawbacks
oConclusion

6. Step 1 Preparation
• Organize your information
o Take each section and divide it into 3 categories:
oHeading: title the audience will see first
oStatement: one sentence about the heading
oSupport material: this includes more information,
pictures, graphs and/ or charts

7. Step 2 Design
• Use backgrounds and colour effectively
o Don’t scare people away with crazy colours
o Colour is used to highlight information
o Be consistent with colours
o Don’t be too busy with your colours

8. Step 2 Design
• Leave space
o Good posters leave space and are easy to follow
o The eye looks for edges, so arrange photos,
headings and text appropriately

9. Step 2 Design
• Use legible text
o Information flows from left to right and from top
to bottom
o Columns are your friends
o Don’t write entirely in capital letters

10. Step 2 Design
• Use graphics for impact
o Graphics include pictures, photos, graphs, etc.
o Use visuals to help demonstrate your
understanding
o Graphics are clear and specific
o Write captions for your images
o Avoid pictures that have large pixels

11. Step 3 Assessment
• Before you hand in your poster, assess it with
the rubric that we created in class
• Have a peer, friend or relative look it over too
• Remember, this is going on the wall for people
to see, so don’t rush it

12. Create!