How to Make a Trifold

Guidelines for Creating a Trifold: 

CHECK OUT THIS PRESENTATION BY PROF. KATHRYN KOO AND LIBRARIAN GINA KESSLER LEE ON HOW TO PUT TOGETHER A TRIFOLD PRESENTATION ON A HUMANITIES TOPIC: https://tinyurl.com/mrxvrfh7

• Choose a professional trifold color, ideally blue or black.

• Mount each standard-sized piece of paper individually on a colored board of its own of slightly larger dimensions. This frame each poster segment with a nicer border and makes for a versatile poster that can be put up anywhere, yet knocks down easily to fit into your backpack for transport. 

• Make title large enough to read easily from a considerable distance (20-25 feet). Titles in all capital letters are harder to read. Keep it to one line. 

• Put all the authors and institutional affiliations just below to your title. Use smaller font than title.  Use a type size that can be read at a distance of about four feet or better. 

• For text, recommend to use 20- point size. 14-point type is suitable only for fine print. If not enough room, shorten your text.  Font types are easy to read: Times Roman, Baskerville, Century Schoolbook, Palatino. Do not get too creative.  

• Break up poster into sections, like the sections in a scientific article. Label all the sections with titles and lay the poster segments in a logical order: 

  • Introduction/background

  • Hypothesis/research question

  • Methods

  • Results

  • Discussion/conclusion

  • It is best to set up in a columnar format, so the readers proceeds vertically first, from top to bottom, then left to right.  People spend about three to five minutes at each poster so get to the heart of the matter and keep it simple. 

  • Keep in mind the purpose of your poster is to explain: 

    • The question

    • Significance (Why should we care?)

    • Methods (What did you do?)

    • Results (What did you find?)

    • Conclusion (What does it all mean?)

    • Limitations/future studies

  • Avoid jargon, write plainly, can be less formal than paper.  Make sure to include “acknowledgement” at the bottom of the poster. Who provided the funding for this study or who made the study possible? 

  • Presentation Tips:

    • Don’t block your poster. Do not stand in front of your poster. Stand to the side.

    • Give people space but be around to answer questions.