F.O.C.U.S. on Posters Tips for Making Successful Posters

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F.O.C.U.S. on PostersTips for Making Successful
Posters

• By Phillip Martin

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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• Focus on these five key points for better
  posters. The first key is . . .
• F
• O
• C
• U
• S

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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• Focus on these five key points for better
  posters. The first key is . . .
• Fonts
• O
• C
• U
• S

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Fonts

• The choice of fonts, or lettering, is very
  important. If you look at ads in magazines,
  youll see that they rarely use more than three
  fonts or sizes. Often, they use one font but in
  two or three sizes.

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Fonts

• The choice of fonts, or lettering, is very
  important. If you look at ads in magazines,
  youll see that they rarely use more than three
  fonts or sizes. Often, they use one font but in
  two or three sizes.
• If an ad uses all capital letters, it is always a
  simple font.

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Wow!

• One
• font,
• but
• in
• more
• than
• one
• size

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Fonts

• You will almost never see an ad with rainbow
  lettering.

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Fonts

• You will almost never see an ad with rainbow
  lettering.
• It may be
• attractive but
• it is harder to
• read than solid
• colors on words.

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Fonts

• You will almost never see an ad with rainbow
  lettering.
• You almost never see an ad that has every other
  word in a different color.

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Fonts

• You will almost never see an ad with rainbow
  lettering.
• You almost never see an ad that has every other
  word in a different color.
• Most lettering in ads goes left to right not
  going in spirals, up-and-down, or diagonally.

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Fonts

• What is good
• with the fonts
• on this poster?
• What could
• have done better?
• Find out on to
• the next slide.

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Fonts

• And, most important of all, when you draw your
  own letters, use a ruler. If you use only
  capital letters, draw two lines. If you also
  make lower case letters, use three lines.

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Fonts

• And, most important of all, when you draw your
  own letters, use a ruler. If you use only
  capital letters, draw two lines. If you also
  make lower case letters, use three lines.
• Dont press hard with the pencil when you draw
  the lines. You will later need to erase them.

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Wow ! These letters were made with a ruler. The
accent bubble for the O is also great!
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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• For successful posters, you must also focus on .
  . .
• Fonts
• Oops! Take Time Cutting!
• C
• U
• S

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Oops! Take Time Cutting!

• When cutting out objects to glue to a poster,
  plan ahead. If you want them to be square,
  measure with a ruler or use a cutting board for
  perfect squares.

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Oops!

• The design
• is GREAT,
• but the
• edges of
• the yellow
• boxes are
• not square.

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Oops! Take Time Cutting!

• If the object is not square, take time to
  carefully cut.

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Oops!

• Great border!
• Lots of good
• information!
• But, smooth
• cut edges
• instead of
• jagged ones
• are better.

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Oops! Take Time Cutting!

• When adding a border, be sure all sides are
  equal.

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Oops!

• A round
• border around
• the graph is
• very clever,
• but also
• very hard to
• cut evenly.

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Wow!

• Great poster
• design!
• The black
• trim could be
• more evenly
• cut, but what
• a great poster!

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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• For successful posters, dont forget about . .
  .
• Fonts
• Oops! Take Time Cutting!
• Careful Gluing
• U
• S

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Careful Gluing

• Use glue sparingly. You want to use enough to
  properly hold your papers in place. But, you
  dont want to use so much glue that it leaks out
  on the front.

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Wow! Wow! Wow!
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Careful Gluing

• This poster is so beautiful! Lots of cats were
  individually cut out. However, the text and
  pictures were not secure.

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Careful Gluing

• Keep your hands clean and glue-free.

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Careful Gluing

• Keep your hands clean and glue-free.
• Be careful in placing pieces on the poster so
  that they arent accidentally crooked.

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Careful Gluing

• Keep your hands clean and glue-free.
• Be careful in placing pieces on the poster so
  that they arent accidentally crooked.

Great illustrations,with a good layout, but this
box is crooked.
Beautiful Borders but the text is crooked.
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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• For successful posters, you must also consider
  the . . .
• Fonts
• Oops! Take Time Cutting!
• Careful Gluing
• Use of Color
• S

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Use of Color

• Look at ads in magazines. Many kids posters
  have too many colors with the lettering. As a
  rule, use no more than three colors with all the
  lettering. Two is even better.

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Use of Color

• Look at ads in magazines. Many kids posters
  have too many colors with the lettering. As a
  rule, use no more than three colors with all the
  lettering. Two is even better.
• Its hard to get better than the slide on the
  next page. Only two colors were used for all the
  lettering.

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Use of Color

• Look at ads in magazines. Many kids posters
  have too many colors with the lettering. As a
  rule, use no more than three colors with all the
  lettering. Two is even better.

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Use of Color

• Remember contrast is important. Dont use dark
  letters on dark paper or light letters on light
  paper. The lettering needs emphasis to be easily
  read.

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The green letters are very easy to read,
but other letters are almost impossible to see.
The green letters are very easy to read, but some
letters are almost impossible to see.
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Color, Cut carefully, Quality, Everything!
Color, Contrast, Carefully Cut -- Everything!
Color, Cut Carefully, Contrast, Everything!
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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• For successful posters, finally, you must . . .
  
• Fonts
• Oops! Take Time Cutting!
• Careful Gluing
• Use of Color
• Stress for Success

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Stress for Success

• Some posters look like they are Wheres Waldo
  ads. There is so much clutter you dont know
  where to look. Like any ad in a magazine, a
  poster needs something emphasized, something
  stressed. It is usually the title and / or a
  piece of art.

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Stress for Success

• Science fair posters need to have a lot
• of information. There is no way around
• that. But, for other posters, less is more.
• Less wording and information makes for
• a more attractive poster.

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Stress for Success

• This band-aid project is a clever idea for a
  poster. But, there is so much information!
  Stress the title or art for success.

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Stress for Success

• Some ads stress the title. Its the first thing
  you see. Other ads emphasize the artwork to grab
  your attention. Other ads balance between the
  two.

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Stress for Success

• No doubt
• about it.
• You are
• supposed
• to see the
• star first.

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Stress for Success

• Almost no ads focus on the written text. Its
  important, but when it comes to writing on a
  poster, remember less is more.

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Stress for Success

• This poster is filled
• with lots of good
• information. But,
• most people will
• not take the time
• to read all of it.

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F.O.C.U.S. Review

• Now that you have F.O.C.U.S.ed on steps for
  making a good poster, look at these examples made
  by students. What have they done well? What
  could they have improved upon?

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Example 1
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Example 1

• Wow! Clever lettering on title

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Example 1

• Wow! Clever lettering on title
• Wow! Ruler used for careful lettering.

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Example 1

• Wow! Clever lettering on title
• Wow! Ruler used for careful lettering.
• Wow! Neat blue trim around text.

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Example 1

• Wow! Clever lettering on title
• Wow! Ruler used for careful lettering.
• Wow! Neat blue trim around text.
• Oops! A larger illustration would make this
  poster more attractive.

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Example 1

• Wow! Clever lettering on title
• Wow! Ruler used for careful lettering.
• Wow! Neat blue trim around text.
• Oops! A larger illustration would make this
  poster more attractive.
• Oops! Although the information is important,
  less is more.

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Example 2
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Example 2

• Wow! Easy to read font, so using all capital
  letters is no problem to read.

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Example 2

• Wow! Easy to read font, so using all capital
  letters is no problem to read.
• Wow! Only one font, in different sizes, is used.
  

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Example 2

• Wow! Easy to read font, so using all capital
  letters is no problem to read.
• Wow! Only one font, in different sizes, is used.
  
• Wow! Only two colors used for fonts.

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Example 2

• Wow! Easy to read font, so using all capital
  letters is no problem to read.
• Wow! Only one font, in different sizes, is used.
  
• Wow! Only two colors used for fonts.
• Wow! An evenly cut blue border around the text.

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Example 3
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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.

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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.
• Wow! Careful hand lettering.

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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.
• Wow! Careful hand lettering.
• Wow! Cotton adds interesting appeal.

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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.
• Wow! Careful hand lettering.
• Wow! Cotton adds interesting appeal.
• Wow! Attractive trim around text.

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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.
• Wow! Careful hand lettering.
• Wow! Cotton adds interesting appeal.
• Wow! Attractive trim around text.
• Wow! Excellent coloring of artwork.

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Example 3

• Wow! Very neatly assembled.
• Wow! Careful hand lettering.
• Wow! Cotton adds interesting appeal.
• Wow! Attractive trim around text.
• Wow! Excellent coloring of artwork.
• Oops! One large illustration works better than
  several small ones.

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Example 4
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Example 4

• Wow! Beautiful lettering!

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Example 4

• Wow! Beautiful lettering!
• Wow! Creative border matching the theme of the
  project.

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Example 4

• Wow! Beautiful lettering!
• Wow! Creative border matching the theme of the
  project.
• Wow! Large title and central illustration to
  capture attention.

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Example 4

• Wow! Beautiful lettering!
• Wow! Creative border matching the theme of the
  project.
• Wow! Large title and central illustration to
  capture attention.
• Oops! Text should be carefully trimmed.

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Example 4

• Wow! Beautiful lettering!
• Wow! Creative border matching the theme of the
  project.
• Wow! Large title and central illustration to
  capture attention.
• Oops! Text should be carefully trimmed.
• Oops! Non-Science fair projects should have
  fewer illustrations.

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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• Now that you know how to F.O.C.U.S. on good
  posters-making tips, you can have much more
  attractive displays.

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F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

• Now that you know how to F.O.C.U.S. on good
  poster-making tips, you can have much more
  attractive displays.
• And remember, these suggestions are also good for
  ads, brochures, book covers, bulletin boards,
  report cover pages, menus, programs, post cards,
  banners, and a whole lot more!

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Special thanks!

• Id like to thank my students at the Antwerp
  International School in Antwerp, Belgium. All
  these photos were taken from their posters and
  science fair projects.