Creating Research Posters
A research poster is one of a few common ways in which scholars share their work, and the highly visual format provides a lot of flexibility in how you engage your audience. Regardless of whether you're creating the poster for a classroom assignment, for a research fair, or for a conference, the process you follow is largely the same. Before you get started creating your poster, there are a few practical concerns that will guide your design process:
Poster Format and Dimensions
Will your poster be digital-only, or will it be printed out? You may be given specific dimensions to use but, if not...
- Posters for digital display:
- Standard, with a width:height ratio of 4:3
- Widescreen, with the ratio 16:9
- Printed posters:
- Standard, 48 by 36 inches (most common)
- Widescreen, 56 by 31.5 inches or 64 by 36 inches
Timeline
The most important thing to keep in mind is when your poster needs to be 100% complete. Designing a poster can involve a lot of choices, and it may take longer than you expect!
- Your completed poster may need to be submitted to an instructor or event organizers ahead of your presentation
- Getting a poster printed takes time! Find out how much time it'll take and plan accordingly
Design Tools
Are you required to use a specific template or tool? If not, there are a lot of options for creating a poster.
- Microsoft PowerPoint is commonly used for research poster design, but requires tweaking as it is not set up with posters in mind
- Adobe Creative Cloud includes many high-powered graphics design tools (like Illustrator and Photoshop), but has a steep learning curve
- LaTeX is a typesetting tool which is commonly used in math and science, and can be used to create research posters
- Canva is a "freemium" browser-based graphic design tool that offers good functionality but limited options for unpaid users
- Inkscape is a free and open-source design tool meant to serve as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator