We anticipate allowing all students who signed up for a poster session the opportunity to participate.

For those who will be presenting their work in a poster session, we will provide 36 inch x 48 inch, three-part standing poster boards, clips, glue, etc., which you can pick up at the Max Palevsky Residence Hall reception desk. You will print your own poster. For printing information, see the printing section below.  

Poster Session Guidelines

You should use type-fonts similar to slide presentations, and not simply reproduce your paper. Attractive graphics and colored elements will enhance your presentation.

Think about what information best summarizes the information in your paper and then consider the best way to present it, whether through graphics or text. Typically, the less text, the more interesting the poster will be.

This page has a wealth of information about creating a compelling poster presentation.

Specific Formatting Tips

Fonts

Use at least a 36 point font for your text, and at least a 48 point font for the title. Avoid using italicized or fancy scripts. Highlighting with colors or underlining important information is acceptable, but make sure your font style is consistent over the entire poster. 

Colors

Clark Harris, Gary Maricle, and Bob Birkenholz offer this advice for using color in posters:

"When mounting text, graphs, figures, or pictures, care should be taken to use contrasting colors to 'show off' the information. White paper on white background will cause a 'white out' effect and the text may be lost in the background. A good rule of thumb is to always mount light items on darker, contrasting colors and mount darker items on white or light-colored paper. Leave a border from ¼ inch to 1 inch around any artwork or text. . . . Be sure to blend colors so they do not clash."

Harris, C., Maricle, G.L., & Birkenholz, B. (1990). "Poster Presentation: The Key to Communication of Ideas." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education/American Vocational Association (Cincinnati, OH, December 6, 1990). ED333491

Printing/Copying

  • A Kinkos that can do large format printing can be found at 1315 E 57th St. at the corner of 57th Street and Kimbark Avenue
  • Print release stations/copiers are located by the front desks of the residence halls.
  • Cash can be added to your Campus Card at the front desk of Max Palevsky in order to pay for printing and copying.
  • Black and white printing costs $.10 per page and color printing is $.15 per page.
  • For problems using the Canon printer/copier in each residence hall, please email canon@lists.uchicago.edu.
  • Unused balances on copy cards are non-refundable.