An academic poster shares ideas visually, using images, headings and short text to create an engaging and easy-to-understand summary.

If your poster is part of a presentation, this is covered in our guidance on Speaking skills and presentations.

 

Plan before you design

Decide what your poster will say before you begin designing it. Write a first draft before moving to your poster-making software. This keeps your content and design decisions separate.

 

 

Format for clarity

Before designing your poster, read Visual design for academic work for guidance on colour, fonts, and images.

Check your assignment brief for size and orientation requirements. Unless told otherwise, follow the guidance below.

  • Size

    Set your poster to A1 (841mm x 594mm).

  • Orientation

    Your poster can be portrait or landscape (go to layout guidance below).

  • Font

    Use a plain sans-serif font such as Arial or Calibri.

  • Font size

    Body text should be no smaller than 24pt. Titles should be larger (around 40-44pt).

 

 

Lay out your content

A poster needs a clear structure to guide the reader. For a portrait poster, divide your content into two columns (Figures 1 and 2). For a landscape poster, use three or four columns (Figures 3 to 6). If you use text boxes, keep them in a clear column structure rather than placing them randomly on the page.

Group related information together. Use headings to separate sections and help your audience navigate the poster.

Illustrated example of a portrait-format academic poster with a two-column layout, showing a title bar at the top and content blocks below including an image, bullet-point text, a bar chart, a pie chart, and a line graph.

Figure 1. Portrait academic poster with a two-column layout.

Diagram of a portrait-format page divided into two equal columns, labelled 1 and 2, separated by a dashed vertical line.

Figure 2. Diagram showing a portrait page divided into two columns.

Illustrated example of a landscape-format academic poster with a three-column layout, showing content blocks including a title bar, bullet-point text, a bar chart, an organisational diagram, a pie chart, a line graph, and a text block.

Figure 3. Landscape academic poster with a three-column layout.

Diagram of a landscape-format page divided into three equal columns, labelled 1 to 3, separated by dashed vertical lines.

Figure 4. Diagram showing a landscape page divided into three columns.

Illustrated example of a landscape-format academic poster with a four-column layout, showing a title bar at the top and content blocks below including images, bullet-point text, a pie chart, a bar chart, a line graph, and an organisational diagram.

Figure 5. Landscape academic poster with a four-column layout.

Diagram of a landscape-format page divided into four equal columns, labelled 1 to 4, separated by dashed vertical lines.

Figure 6. Diagram showing a landscape page divided into four columns.

 

 

Use images effectively

Only use images that directly support your content. A well-chosen image or data visual can replace a paragraph of text. Use this to keep your word count down.

Image quality, resizing, and resolution are covered in our guidance on Visual design for academic work.

 

 

Write concisely

A poster has far fewer words than a report. Focus on key points rather than extended explanation. Use bullet points and short sentences.

 

 

Use evidence

Include citations for any sources (books, articles, or research) you use to support your points. Check your assignment brief for the expected referencing format. Include a reference list on the poster unless your assignment guidance says otherwise.

 

 

Page last edited: 27 August 2026
Next review due: 20 July 2029