Developing Your Professional Portfolio: Publishing Your Practice and Researc

Dempsey, Brian

Fallon, Helen

English

Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive

Poster Design: Guidelines and tips

MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library

POSTER DESIGN GUIDELINES & TIPSNUI MAYNOOTHO l l s c o i l  n a  h É i r e a n n  M á  N u a d » The message you want to convey is your main priority. While you will be familiar with your subject matter do not forget that people will be viewing your poster for the first time.  » Be concise! A viewer should be able to grasp the general message/subject of your poster with ease. » Your title and introductory paragraph (if there is one) should be both informative and inviting to read. » Your poster must be able to stand alone without explanation.  » Some messages just happen to be quite complicated - if this is the case - break it up!  Ensure that your sections follow a logical path. The viewer should be able skip down through these sections at will. » It is up to you how much information you want/need to include but bear in mind the reader may not read any of it if there is simply too much. » List web addresses or other resources so interested viewers know where to find further information rather than ‘cluttering up’ your poster with too much detail. However avoid including long URLs which the viewer is unlikely to remember.  » Make sure you have high resolution versions of any logos that need to appear. It will detract greatly from your poster greatly if the text in your logos lacks crispness. » Images and logos downloaded from websites are unlikely to have the required resolution for print. » It naturally follows that any photographic images to be used need to have sufficient resolution to appear sharp. » 300 dots per inch (dpi) is the recommended resolution for print.  » Think how a viewer will read through your poster for the first time. Try to create a ‘visual sequence’. » Don’t be afraid of blank areas - do not try to fill every section - let the poster ‘breathe’ a little.CONTENTLOGOS  & IMAGESLAYOUT Compiled by Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian, NUI Maynooth and Brian Dempsey, Graphic Designer.  email: brian200@eircom.netPOSTER DESIGN GUIDELINES & TIPSNUI MAYNOOTHO l l s c o i l  n a  h É i r e a n n  M á  N u a d » Since many posters are digitally printed (as usually there is small quantity required) there is no limit to the colours that can be used. However generally speaking using two/three main colours is advisable as using more may tend to create a very ‘busy’ poster which is hard to follow. » Be Consistent! Colours can denote a certain hierarchy. Use one colour for all headings/subheadings of similar importance.   » The guidelines for colour usage applies similarly to typefaces. Once again using one/two typefaces will improve the overall coherency of your poster. This of course is not a hard and fast rule. A third typeface could always be included in a graphic effect but generally using two typefaces is enough and using more tends to detract rather than add to your poster.  » Be Consistent! Typefaces should be used in a consistent manner i.e. one font used for headings, one font used for blocks of text.  » Make it easy for your audience to read through blocks of text. Use ample spacing between lines to encourage the viewer to read.  » Pay attention to spacing between different subject areas. The viewer should be able to navigate through these areas with ease.   » Conciseness is key. Keep both the sentence length and the line length short. » Use italics, underlining and uppercase very sparingly in your text. Avoid acronyms unless your audience will be completely familiar with them.  » Choose a designer based primarily on his/her portfolio.  » Tell the designer what you want and also what you do not want. » Give him/her some background to your subject matter and the exact message you want to convey. » Be open to your heading/subheading text being amended to suit design concepts. » The designer will need to know your target audience and what you hope to achieve with the poster - e.g. simply supply information, make people aware of a facility, promote interest in a future event. » Let the designer know if you want to avoid certain colour schemes/typefaces which are known to be difficult to read by the visually impaired viewer.COLOURSTYPEFACES & TEXTBRIEFING  A DESIGNER Compiled by Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian, NUI Maynooth and Brian Dempsey, Graphic Designer.  email: brian200@eircom.net

Maynooth EPrints and ETheses Archive

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http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/4625/1/HF_poster_guidelines.pdf

Poster Design: Guidelines and tips

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Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive

MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library

Maynooth EPrints and ETheses Archive

NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive