Your Poster Set-Up

Hi Reader, today I want to provide you with a quick-start framework for your poster.

I am hosting a special event on Green Labs next week - as I reviewed a poster I once designed for that purpose, it all came back to my mind:

Before even starting, I felt overwhelmed with all the technical microdecisions - which font size, title length, and sections to include?

I got a headache and started to procrastinate. Therefore, I compiled all technical set-ups and best practices to help you overcome this trap:

General Design

Poster Dimensions

• The most common size is 122 cm (48 inches) wide by 91 cm (36 inches) tall.

Font Size

• Title: 72–120 pt
• Subtitle: 48–80 pt
• Section headers: 36–72 pt
• Body text: 24–48 pt

Fonts

• Title – Without Serifs: Helvetica, Calibri, Avenir Next LT Pro
• Body – With Serifs (but without can also work): Times New Roman, Cambria, Georgia

Design Composition

• Important information should be readable from about 10 feet away.
• Use only three colors, and make sure they are harmonious.
• Use a maximum of two fonts
• Include at least 40% white space.

Structure & Layout

Sections

• Follow the instructions provided by the organizer.
• Common setup: Purpose or Motivation – Background – Methods/Experimental Design – Results – Summary/Conclusions – Future Directions – References (five maximum)
• Whether to start with an abstract is debated. If, aim for a short abstract (ideally less than 150 words) and write it for a broad audience.

Pro Idea: Instead of the common headlines like “Methods” or “Results,” you can use concrete key phrases such as “SEM and HPLC for Structure Investigation” or “SN96 Reduces Macrophage Size.”

Text Layout

• Create a clear visual hierarchy from left to right and top to bottom.
• Align text and pictures to start/end at a similar height

• If possible, keep paragraphs to 1–2 sentences rather than big blocks of text.
• The width of text boxes should be approximately 45–65 characters. Longer lines discourage reading.
• When using acronyms and numbers (e.g., ATP, 42) within the body text, scale down the font size by a couple of points so they don’t overpower the lowercase text.
• Use bold for emphasis, remember that italics are less readable; they work better for drawing attention while reading, still, use italics rather than underlining.
• Pro Tip: Set line spacing and tab amount manually if you notice inconsistencies

Figure Design

For graphs & charts

• Use harmonious colors (refer to this lesson)

• Label directly on maps, charts, and graphs; avoid using legends if possible. Preferably, keep all labels horizontal.
• Keep the same sample/data associated with one color.
• If you don’t mention specific data on the poster, remove it from the image.
• Lines on graphs should be made heavier than usual. Sections in charts and graphs should be distinct as well; use different colors to clearly establish separations and relationships.
• Never display two-dimensional data in 3D.

There is Always an Exception

Still, let’s remember that there is no “right” poster design. If you have a good reason to move away from the ordinary, do so.

Especially if you go for a creative design, you might want to throw most of the outlined ideas below out of the window.

However, if you choose a more common design, you’ll probably want to use the above aspects as a basic structure — don’t overthink it, just get going. You’ll figure out challenges along the way.

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