From such unpretentious beginnings grew the idea of a proper poster session, which has now developed into an important means of communication. This importance lies in the self-selecting nature of the session: a good poster selects its own audience and only people with a genuine concern for the subject will make the necessary effort to stop and stare. Good posters, however, are rare, so we insisted Dr John Burgess of Leicester University to give us his thoughts on poster design:
Sadly, recent experiences have shown that standards of poster presentation are still remarkably variable. The best prelude to a good presentation is surely to attend one or two sessions in a receptive but critical frame of mind, to note which posters are effective and which are infuriating or plain dull, think why, and act accordingly.
The greater informality of poster presentation encourages discussion between interested parties, and indeed encourages preliminary dissemination of results and theories before finalization in print or in a formal lecture. On the other hand, posters have their disadvantages, especially to their authors. For a start, it is much more effort to produce a good poster, and to get it to the conference poster board than to have a few slides or over head transparencies made. Also it is impossible to stand beside one's own poster and to inspect everyone else's. Organizers can help somewhat with this problem by having posters on view for as long as possible.
Posters are generally self-contained, but there are also ways in which they can be linked with oral presentations. In a multi-stream conference they can provide a substitute for oral presentations which cannot be attended due to inevitable clashes. They are also useful adjuncts to oral presentations that contain a great deal of detail; a poster containing tables of data, results or mathematical operations can be studied at leisure and the contents absorbed in a way impossible with slides.
We reproduce below a 'typical' poster (Inorganic Mechanisms Group meeting, Warwick, December, 1981), to which we have added comments on presentation. This, like numerous other posters from this department, was designed and produced by Ann Crane.
Arrange the material in a logical sequence, and make sure the poster is self-contained if it will be on display in the author's absence. It is helpful to start with a concise introduction and end with brief conclusions particularly when the participants have an overwhelming choice competing for their attention.
Use of colour can be very helpful both in maximizing the clarity of diagrams and in making the poster attractive.
The title should be bold and informative, of course. It is a good idea to design and position the title panel last. A striking effect can be obtained from an awkward remaining space.
Typescript is rather small to read, though quite satisfactory when no more than two or three readers are present at once. Photographic enlargement of typescript improves legibility, though some typefaces look rather unattractive when magnified. However, they still look infinitely better than the handwriting of 99 per cent of the scientific population.
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