Research Poster Examples

Let's look at some examples of posters and consider what looks good and what could be improved. Take a chance to reflect on the posters, considering what you've just learned, before reading the feedback. We're not looking at the content here, just the design.

This is a classic example of a problematic research poster. Where to begin? The section boxes are not aligned or organized, there is too much text and not enough negative space, it is difficult to read the text on top of the colors and the background image. I'm sure you can find at least four more things wrong with this poster! It's helpful to see examples of what not to do.

Here's another problematic poster, but this one is more typical of most conference posters. There is way too much text on the poster and not enough negative space! This makes it very difficult to read or understand the research. It would be helpful to make some of the graphs bigger and easier to read.

This one is more eye-catching than the previous two posters, but here we run into the problem of background photos again. In general, we do not recommend using a background photo. Background photos usually distract from your content. Hopefully, you also noticed that the section boxes are not aligned here, which makes it difficult to know where to look and what to read. It is also confusing that some of the images and graphics are in the section boxes and some of them are not.

This poster from a Clemson student is getting better: there is good alignment and organization of information. It's helpful that the bulk of the research section has graphs, which are generally easier to read and explain quickly. However, there is very little negative space so the poster feels crowded. Another issue contributing to the crowding is that the author has not used padding between the text and the section boxes (see Design: Space for more on this). Additionally, the use of the Clemson orange as the background, in combination with the heavy use of purple is overpowering and distracting: it would be better to use the orange and purple as accents.

This Clemson poster is quite nice. The purple background is eye-catching but not distracting. The design choice of using a dark purple section header works well. The graphs are clear and well-designed. One small change: did you notice how the logos at the top of the poster have a white background? It would be better to find logos with a transparent background (look for .png files, which can be transparent; .jpgs cannot). The author could have also benefitted from more padding or negative space around the text of the boxes.

This is another well-designed Clemson poster. There is an excellent use of negative space while maintaining a clean design. The section headers are integrated into the columns but are still legible. There are many clear graphics. The Abstract is probably too long and is hard to read as a solid block of text. In generally, bullet points make text easier to read quickly.

This Clemson poster is also very good. The organization is clear between the section headers and the section boxes. There are eye-catching images but they are not overwhelming. The background provides contrast but is not distracting. They could have used more padding in the section boxes but the use of bullet points is good.

This Clemson poster might look familiar from earlier pages of this guide. The design choices here lead to a well-executed poster. There are clear columns, alignment, sections, and section headers. The graphs are integrated with the same color scheme. The results and methods are concise and easy to read. This is a nice poster.