Poster Samples

Looking at samples of real student posters can help you generate ideas and define your goals. As you get started, it may be helpful to look at examples of finished posters.

Below are a number of sample posters created by UT undergraduates. There is a brief discussion of each poster highlighting its greatest strengths and areas where there is room for improvement.


Poster Sample 1

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Background may be distracting, or detract from content
  • Sections and images are not aligned
  • Too many visual components clutter poster


Poster Sample 2

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Lacks Citations and Acknowledgements
  • Labeling of images/graphics
  • Inconsistent text alignment
  • Color-saturated background


Poster Sample 3

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Technical language/undefined acronyms (accessible to limited audience)
  • Narrow margins within text boxes
  • Too many thick borders around boxes
  • Uses UT seal instead of college or university wordmark


Poster Sample 3

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Lacks references section
  • May not be accessible to all audiences (some technical language)
  • No need for borders around sections (the blue headers are sufficient)


Poster Sample 4

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Inconsistent fonts in body text
  • Editing
  • Abstract section mislabeled
  • Bullet points are great, but only if they’re used judiciously


Poster Sample 5

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Discussion of Results
  • Minor formatting misalignments
  • Long title
  • Unauthorized use of UT seal (use wordmark instead)


Poster Sample 6

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Light text on dark background
  • Color backgrounds should be avoided, especially dark ones
  • Unlabeled, non-credited photos


Poster Sample 7

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Many sections without a clear flow between them
  • Lacks acknowledgements


Poster Sample 8

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Length/density of text blocks
  • Tiny photo citations
  • Connections between images and descriptive text
  • Vertical boxes unnecessary


Poster Sample 9

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Lacks clear Background section
  • Relationship of Findings and Conclusion to Research questions
  • Bullet points are great, but only if they’re used judiciously


Poster Sample 10

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Uneven column width
  • Center-justfied body text
  • Lacks “Methods” section


Poster Sample 11

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Too many different font styles (serif and sans serif, bold and normal)
  • Concise interpretation of graphics


Poster Sample 12

Strengths

Room for improvement

  • Analysis of graphic data
  • Discussion of significance
  • Lacks author’s affiliation and contact information


Poster Sample 13

Strengths

  • Balance among visuals, text and white space
  • Data presented in visual format (SmartArt)
  • Simple color scheme
  • Font sizes
  • Accesible to many audiences (simple enough for general audience, but enough methodological detail for experts)

Room for improvement

  • Some more editing needed
  • When targeting an expert audience (as in the methodology section), should also report statistics (r, p, t, F, etc.)
  • References


Poster Sample 14

Strengths

  • Large, clear title
  • Creative adaptation of sections
  • Use of lists (rather than paragraphs)
  • Accessible to diverse audience

Room for improvement

  • Logical flow
  • Connection between visuals (sheet music) and content
  • Narrow margins within text boxes


Poster Sample 14

Strengths

  • Clear sections
  • Strategic use of color for section headers
  • Labeling and citation of images
  • Accessible to a broad audience
  • Clearly defined research question
  • Wide margins around poster edges

Room for improvement

  • Slightly text-heavy
  • Data referenced (“Methodology”) but not discussed

What is my next step?

Begin working on the content for your poster at Create Your Message.