poster

DESIGN PORTFOLIO EXAMPLE :: Chloé’s SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE POSTER

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In life we don’t often get the chance at do-overs. How would things be different if I had the brain of today to solve yesterday’s challenge?

Well, I had the rare opportunity to do just that by being able to redesign a conference poster from my very first Ph.D conference in 2019 at ESEB in Turku, Finland. I had just barely started my program at the University of Jyväskylä and was presenting work I had done in Panamá with Karen Warkentin while living in Morocco working with Mohammed Znari. It was quite the time for a tadpole to be hatched into the big ol’ pond of science.

If you want to another example that more explicitly outlines design concepts, check out the work I did with Eldon’s poster redesign here.

So, what changed five years later? First, I restrict poster content to my golden 250-word limit. Make the threshold for engagement at low as possible: bold colours, bold images, bold. . . everything. I also aim to go for repetition in shape use by capturing the circle of the egg in the repetition of circles throughout the poster. Finally, I aim for a more consistent use of colour by limiting my palette for emphasis and narrative flow. If you find yourself really challenged by these constraints, make a QR-code as a kind of “supplementary materials”– if people really want to know what your set-up looked like, they’ll scan it. You can throw additional plots and references on there too.

So, take the leap! Dare yourself to look over your old work. Be kind to who you were and bathe in the warmth of how wonderfully far you’ve come. I can’t wait to see how I would shred all my previous work five years from now!

Design Portfolio Example :: Scientific conference poster

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Process shown with kind permission from Eldon Ager.

When designing a poster, my guiding light is to limit myself to 250 words and fewer than 3 graphs. You have only half a second– the time someone is walking by– to win their attention.

Design

The process

You aren’t going to get it on the first try. Or the second. Or the third.

I work by first setting the dimensions of the poster in PowerPoint and then building on top of that. Don’t delete anything, just create a new page! Sometimes an idea from a forgotten draft is just what you needed for the final.

Experiment with different shapes. How can you use the least amount of words while still communicating your message?

Try sketching your ideas out on paper. Get your thoughts and story written, then refine them. Here, one of my best friends Ilmur Jónsdóttir, illustrates her process to designing her poster for the CRISPR2023 conference. Notice her use of space, emphasis and colour throughout her design.

Trust me, I know it’s difficult. But imagine in a conference of 100s of posters after many hours of talks (poster sessions are usually scheduled at the end of the day, or at the end of a conference), people are tired and sometimes it’s hard to engage in a meaningful way after riding a conference high all day. So, cut cut cut. Say it in pictures, say it in shapes. If someone really wants to know more, they will scan a QR code, e-mail you, or talk to you if you are there in person!

Make it as easy as possible for people passing by to understand and get excited by your work.

The before and after of the design process.

SHAPE

If you look up scientific posters, a lot of them are a ton of text and incredibly boring. Look at interior design books! Or google “winning [insert conference] poster”.

You DO NOT have to conform to square-text-square-text pattern.

COLOUR

+ Limit the use of colours. Be careful with your palette and be consistent throughout words, plots, and emphasis.

KEY WORDS

+ What words do you want people to focus on? Spend time really about your story, and how you would summarize your work in 1 sentence. (yes, it can be done!)