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Sheridan Center 25th Anniversary Celebration Poster Session

Celebrating Learning Communities at Brown

Wednesday November 7th, 2-3pm & 4:30-6pm, Sayles Hall

Learning communities at Brown come together in many ways.  Some groups gather to discover or explore new knowledge and ideas.  Others foster mentoring networks or provide spaces for open communication.   Some communities are classroom-based, some are situated in departments or disciplines, while others draw together participants from across conventional boundaries and may even build bridges beyond Brown. 

Come to this session and share and discover the diverse ways in which people come together in learning communities at Brown. 

Resources for Poster Presenters:

This poster session is a unique opportunity to share the work of your learning community, frame discussions and invite interactions.  Included below are the guidelines for the poster session.  We have also included tips and resources to help you design a poster.  After the session, we encourage you to donate your poster to the Center, where we will display the posters from the Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration.

Sheridan Center Workshops on Poster Design:
Associate directors Laura Hess & Carie Cardamone will lead this session designed to help poster presenters prepare engaging posters for the 25th Anniversary Celebration.

Poster Guidelines:

Poster Content:

  • Each poster should be able to be mounted within the 4’ x 4’ area.
    Your poster does not have to fill the entire assigned board space.
  • Please include the name of your learning community at the top of the poster.
  • Consider adopting the following minimum lettering sizes.
    • Learning Community Name (48 points)
    • Headings & Subheadings (24 Points)
    • Body Text (18 Points)
      Posters with larger text can attract people who may notice your poster from a distance.
  • Don’t forget to include the learning community’s affiliation(s) and / or contact information. You may also wish to include the contact information of the poster presenter(s).

Logistics for Setting up Posters:

  • Come to Sayles hall by 10am on November 7th to hang your poster. 
    • If you are unable to come to Sayles Hall during that timeframe, please let us (Sheridan_Center@brown.edu) know and deliver your poster to the Center before
      November 7th.  We will arrange for your poster to be hung.
    • A map will be provided to help you find your assigned location.
    • The Center will provide thumbtacks for mounting posters.
  • The Poster Sessions will occur from 2-3pm and 4:30-6pm.  We encourage you and/or others from your learning community to stand by your poster at one or both of these times.
  • Consider bringing small copies of your poster or other handouts to distribute at the Poster Session.
  • Please note posters will be displayed throughout the afternoon’s events.

Poster Tips:

Design Principles (a.k.a. Less is More)

  • Aim for Simplicity: You only have a few seconds to grab and retain your audience’s attention – the poster should be uncluttered and easy to follow.  Posters are an excellent format for communicating one or two key ideas or themes.  Don’t try to cover too many ideas or provide too many details.
  • Communicate Visually: Use the layout and images to deliver & reinforce your message.
  • Guide Readers:  Self-guiding posters allow people to learn about your group throughout the day, even if you are not there.  
    • The headings alone can communicate the main point of your poster. 
    • Remember to use descriptive headings and label all images.
    • Posters are generally read from left to right, and top to bottom. You can also indicate order through numbers, letters or arrows if necessary.
  • Use minimal text: Because posters are viewed by those walking by, blocks of text should not exceed a few paragraphs, as viewers will not have time to read more than that. 
  • Prepare a one-minute verbal introduction: Before the poster session, rehearse a brief summary of your learning community. Many viewers will be in a hurry and will want a quick "guided tour" of your poster.

Designing Your Poster

  • By Computer or By Hand?
    Software Programs:
    Many programs are available for designing large-format posters (remember to set the print size before designing the poster).  Common programs include: 
    • Microsoft PowerPoint & Publisher - Power Point Presentation Template
    • Adobe Acrobat & LaTeX
    • Page layout applications such as QuarkXPress, and InDesign.
    • Graphics packages such as Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Freehand, and Omnigraffle. 
    • Inkscape - an opensource / free application (http://inkscape.org/download/)
      Note: There can be significant printing costs involved in these large format posters.  The Sheridan Center will contribute 50% of the poster printing costs up to $70 for posters printed at Metcalf.

By Hand:
You can mount individual components of a poster on a larger poster board or on separate pieces of (often colored) paper or mat board.  Each component can then be attached to the mounting board at the poster session with thumb-tacks. 

  • Suggested Approach
    • Begin by defining your message & identifying key themes / headings
    • Lay out the poster visually before writing any detailed text.
    • Gather materials to illustrate your key themes  (images, photos, charts, graphs)
    • Write any textor descriptions.
    • Eliminate all extraneous materials
    • Share your poster draft with others to get feedback.

Online Resouces for Poster Design:

  • Creating Effective Poster Presentations - contains guidelines for effective posters, explains the process of creating a poster and has annotated example posters:            http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters

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