Scholarly Communication Support: Planning, Conducting, Disseminating, Promoting, & Assessing Research

If presenting in person, keep in mind:

• Important information should be readable from about ten feet away
• Title and text sections are clear and concise
• Limit number of colors and fonts
• Selected graphics should be high-quality and high-resolution to print well and not look grainy

If presenting virtually, keep in mind:

• Just because viewers aren't standing ten feet away, don't make them squint at tiny print on their monitor
• Content should still look clean, uncluttered, and readable
• Use of color should still be selective and thoughtful

This 4-minute video from the American Chemical Society is a great illustration of basic poster design principles:

What software should you use to design a conference poster?

It depends on what programs you already know or want to invest time in learning. 

Canva.com may be a good choice for a free, browser-based tool that's easy to learn.

Microsoft PowerPoint is a good choice if you are already familiar with Microsoft Office programs, and it's available from SHSU. 

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign are good choices for higher-level design, and they are also available from SHSU.

Free Poster Templates

Free Images

Don't overdo it on your poster with busy background images that will distract readers. If your only images are your own study-related figures, that's fine! But if you find yourself needing an illustrative photo to make a research finding more clear, these resources may help.