Melanie Cheung

Iwi affiliations: Te Arawa, Ngāti Rangitihi

Mahi: Researcher, Auckland Neuroscience Network, The University of Auckland, PhD student.


Handout for MA doctoral students, 2006.

 Melanie Cheung's brochure (2mb)

What is the aim of posters? Why bother?

  • Communicating your research
  • Presentation - Eye catching
  • Have some fun
  • Let your artistic side come out!

What makes me stop and look at a poster?

  • Catchy title
  • Interesting abstract
  • Graphics/Interesting pictures
  • Interesting topic
  • Method

What are the key elements to a good poster?

  • Follows the brief or objectives given
  • Logically ordered
  • Simple and precise language
  • Visually exciting or follows a theme


The poster follows the brief or objectives given:

Brief A

  • Give a 750 word summary of your research written for an academic audience.
  • Posters will be on display for one day.
  • Posters should be designed to fit into an area of 1 metre wide x 1 metre high including the heading.

Brief B

  • A laminated A1 (594 x 840mm) poster. The target audience is secondary school students and the recommended word limit is 500 words.
  • The poster should include your research question, research method, and conclusions. These should be presented in an appropriate way for your audience.
  • Use clear simple language for your poster and use colour and design imaginatively to draw the reader in. Imagine a secondary school student as your audience. Posters you have used for conferences are unlikely to be suitable.
  • Posters containing spelling and grammar errors may not be judged.
  • Please be aware of copyright laws and seek permission where necessary for the use of images.

The poster is logically ordered:

  • Order the poster logically (aims, research question, methodology and results)
  • Use headings and subheadings to guide your reader through the information
  • Don't forget short introductions and conclusions

The poster has simple and precise language:

  • Be simple, catchy and to-the-point
  • Use short, simple sentences and paragraphs
  • Try to minimise jargon. If you need to use it - explain the terms
  • Try not to include too much text on your poster
  • Keep to 500 words or less

The poster is visually exciting or follows a theme:

  • A picture paints a thousand words
  • Photoshop is your friend! Get familiar with how to use it.
  • You can choose a theme to include interesting pictures and font
  • Make the design uncluttered and eye catching
  • Make diagrams or graphics simple and interesting
  • Avoid complex graphs or equations.
  • Don't overcrowd
  • Be creative with the font that you use (It is easy to download different fonts off the internet) Grinched, Ravie, Old English. Lucida

    NB. Please be aware of copyright laws and seek permission where necessary for the use of images.

The following questions will assist you to plan for your poster presentation. Write one summary sentence for each of the following:

  1. The aims of your research or research question
  2. The methodology you use or will be using for your research
  3. Your results to date
  4. The conclusion/s you can draw from your data


Put these sentences together to construct an abstract. Then think of ideas around your abstract for your poster

Draw a flow diagram of your research
Include research questions, methods and outcomes

A list of things to do for ideas:

  • Brainstorm around one aspect of your work to base your poster on
  • Try to write one summary sentence for each of the following: Research question, Methodology and Conclusion. Put them together to construct an abstract.
  • Find a theme and a title. Think of pictures that will compliment the theme.
  • The internet is your friend!! Use it, especially Google image.
  • Draw a flow diagram of your research, including aims, questions, methods, outcomes
  • Write a summary of the research you have done and think of how to best present it

Next ...

Write the body of your poster: Introduction, Aims, Research Question, Methodology, Results and Conclusions

  • Find some pictures/ diagrams and results which compliment your writing
  • Design the layout
  • Choose a distinctive font for title, headings, subheadings
  • Write and design poster first, then use an imaging programme such as Illustrator or Pagemaker to construct the poster (this can take up to 3 days)
  • Get some help from someone who is creative/artistic
  • Get a second opinion. Ask someone you trust to critically evaluate it!
  • Keep editing until you are happy with it.