NEPA: New England Psychological Association


Guidelines for Preparing Posters

A good poster

- is eye-catching;

- can be read comfortably from three or four feet;

- presents only the most important results of the research;

- uses as little text as possible;

- uses graphs, photos, drawings, cartoons, diagrams, etc. whenever possible;

- leads the reader’s eye unambiguously; and

- does not look like an article that has been tacked to the wall.

There are only two requirements:

1) Your poster must fit on a 36"H x 48"W project display board.

2) Your poster must have a title and must identify the author(s) and the faculty sponsor(s).

Beyond this the only limit is your imagination.


Suggestions:

1) Your poster is for a general audience, who will be reading while standing and trying to ignore a lot of background noise. Strive for simple, short sentences. Avoid technical terms that are not defined. Keep text to a minimum.

2) Use the largest type you can. Avoid very light or fancy fonts. In graphs, use heavier lines and larger plotting symbols.

3) Prepare a brief and informal oral summary of your work and practice it so that you can easily explain to other students and faculty what you have done.


*Guidelines provided courtesy of the faculty at Salem State College, Salem, Massachusetts.