School of Engineering and Informatics (for staff and students)

Tips and Guidelines for Designing your Poster

Getting started with your poster design

The following tips and guidelines are provided here to help boost your creativity and start you off in the right direction. There are many different websites you could visit online for help and guidance, but do remember to check that your final design conforms to our template guidelines 

The Importance of the Poster

  • It is a good 'digestible' way of presenting work to various audiences.
  • Most work presented at conferences is presented in poster form.
  • Posters are given by everybody from students up to professors.
  • For most people giving a poster is their first experience of a major conference.

What do you get out of it?

  • Presentation practice.
  • Feedback on your project.
  • Networking opportunities.
  • The chance to inform potential employers, faculty and colleagues of your work.

Your Audience

  • Faculty.
  • Your peers.
  • Industry.

In previous years, some students were invited for interview, and other students have also managed to get industrial collaboration for their project. So it's a good idea to bring some contact details to give out e.g. a card or even a CV.

 

 Your project plan is worth a poster!

  • You will get early feedback.
  • It is good practice for explaining why your project is of interest; the poster is a prop to assist you as you talk about your work.
  • For these posters, RESULTS ARE NOT IMPORTANT and posters aren't there to enable replication of results either (for this, refer to papers, giving URL's if you like).
  • You can bring 'props' to the presentation if you wish, for example copies of papers or A4 copies of your poster.

Plan of Action

  • Decide on a title. A poster needs a good title and clear abstract.
  • Write a 4 or 5 bullet point summary of your work: turn these into informative section headings.
  • Add big diagrams making good use of colour.
  • Make the message simple enough to be understood, but do not dumb it down. Do not use too many large sections of text. Remember you will be there to talk people through any details.
  • A clear structure is needed, you are telling a story so make sure there is a logical flow to the poster.
  • Discuss with a friend or fellow student. Can the points be understood? Does it sound exciting?

School of Engineering and Informatics (for staff and students)

School Office:
School of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, Chichester 1 Room 002, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QJ
ei@sussex.ac.uk
T 01273 (67) 8195

School Office opening hours: School Office open Monday – Friday 09:00-15:00, phone lines open Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00
School Office location [PDF 1.74MB]