Geographical Information Systems

Poster Design and Creation TipsJanuary 2015

GIS CenterTufts University

A Locator Map (Introduction)

Each map should have:◦ Title – Insert using publisher, not arcmap◦ Legend

Sized appropriately and organized with proper headings and layers

◦ Scale Bar Consistent size, scale and location. Appropriate Units

◦ North arrow Consistent placement and size between maps

Labels might be useful on maps but aren’t required

Additional Graphics◦ Photographs, graphs, tables, charts, diagrams, etc.

Identify and Label all Figures and Maps on poster and in text!!

Map and Figure Requirements

Poster’s can be printed in the GIS lab in Tisch Library when an assistant is there.

Posters should be sized at 30x40 inches

Landscape or Portrait orientation is fine

You will mount your project on poster board provided in the GIS lab

Leave the poster on the pile for our class in the GIS lab.

Poster Printing Info

Poster Design Tools

Posters serve as an advertisement of your hard work!

Layout

Visual Hierarchy Alignment – Use of columnsGrouping -To box or not to Box?Contrast – Use of white space

TypographyEmphasisFont Type/StyleColumn WidthJustification/ Left AlignmentBulletsSize

ColorColor Wheel Complimentary/contrasting Colors

Images/FiguresResolution

Design Tools and Concepts

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mswanson/archive/2007/05/06/bad-design-by-example.aspx

Goal: Maximize Readability

Readability improves:

• Comprehension

• Retention

• Reading speed

• Reading persistence

Visual Hierarchy

READ THIS FIRSTand then read this.

THAT’S VISUAL HIERARCHY.

Visual hierarchy starts with your title!

Examples from Robin Williams’ Design Workshop

Examples from Robin Williams’ Design Workshop

Examples from Robin Williams’ Design Workshop

Examples from Robin Williams’ Design Workshop

My GIS Poster

A quick design workshop

My GIS PosterA quick design workshop

My GIS PosterA quick design workshop

Corporate Logos Redesignhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/weekinreview/31marsh.html

Times New Roman

Serif vs. Sans Serif

ArialT T

Arial / Helvetica

Sans SerifSerif

San serif Arial headers, serif Times New Roman body text

Comic Sans…

Story of Comic Sans: http://www.connare.com/comic.htm(Now Chalkboard on Apple OS)

The bold, the underlined and the italicized

Readability: Column WidthThe “alphabet-and-a-half ” line length rule:

the ideal line length at 39 characters regardless of type size.

Left Align (GOOD!) Justified (BAD!)

Bullets: Give them Space!

Font size

aa

Example Text Sizes on Trunk

A few words aboutCOLORUse 3-4 colors, but no more!

Dark type on light color backgrounds

This attracts attention, but tires the eyes!

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-theory-basics.html

http://www.colorbrewer.org

Blue on Red appears blurry to the human eye

Yellow on white is hard to read

Red on blue also appears blurry to the human eye

Be Careful though…

And remember backgrounds can be

distracting!

Colleagues

Students

Scientists

Government officials

Community groups

General public

Design Process:

Know your Audience!

• Be in charge of your design decisions:

• Color Palette – Pick a color scheme and keep it consistent for poster and maps!

• Fonts – Pick 2 main fonts– 1 for maps and poster headings (sans-serif), 1 for poster text (serif)

• Size- Poster text is important, but don’t forget about map text as well (labels and

legends, and scale bars!)

• Format- Identify most important elements (title, headings, maps, tables, graphs)

& place them on poster first. Then add text and secondary information.

Design Process:

Simply your Poster with Maps, Graphs and Headings

Images and Graphs say much more than words!

Keep Poster Visual!

Images and

Graphs say

much more

than words!

Think about what information is important for your readers to understand for the project

Overview map- Important data or locations◦ Basic information that might give the reader background info or

context. Factor Maps- Important to show what went into

your model (not necessarily intermediary steps)◦ Ex: Suitability Analysis: Distance from Roads

Might be better to show the actual Euc Distance with distance values rather than the reclassify layer that doesn’t have values but just numbers.

Final Map- Some may have a “final” map, others might not (that’s okay).

What kind of Maps should I include on my poster?

◦ Determine the shape you want your maps to be on the poster Square, rectangle

◦ Set up the page so that the maps are exported bigger than what they will be on your poster. 20x20 usually works (if it’s a square). Adjust for rectangle.

◦ Export maps with just legend, north arrow, and scale bar.

◦ Use Publisher to put in titles and other explanatory text

◦ Export maps as a JPEG, GIF or Tiff at 300 DPI.

Exporting Maps

Resolution: 300 dpi Caution: Web images are 72 dpi

SnagIt - software increases image resolution

Format: JPG (photos)TIFF (yields large files)GIF (solid colors, text)

Working with Images:What you see is NOT what you get!

Why should anyone care?

What am I adding to current knowledge?

Are my visuals effective and understandable?

Have I conveyed the findings clearly?

Are my recommendations valid?

Is my poster effective?

Edit, Edit, Edit and EVALUATE!

Print out a letter size draft.

◦ Can you read the type?

◦ Are the colors what you really want?

◦ Does it look too busy?

◦ Do the main points pop out?

So you think your finally done?

?MS PowerPointAdobe InDesign

MS Publisher

Which software to use

12 columns

3 main columns: 4 / 4 / 4

Questions???

Special Thanks to Dr. Barbara Parmenter and Melanie St. James for various slide graphics and information regarding design

concepts