Recently the CrowdTruth team got a paper accepted at ICT Open 2016. As part of this upcoming conference, I visited a masterclass on scientific poster design at NWO. The class was given by two professional designers.
The most important thing in your poster is having a clear message. This can be achieved by creating a visual focus. This means that you should not give all images the same size, but guide the reader visually with placement and size of text and images. You have to be able to read the main message from far away and can include the fine details smaller for when the reader is up close. In order to achieve this, there should only be one main focus point to start from.
After having a starting point, there should be a clear hierarchy throughout the poster. The amount of levels of information should be reduces as much as possible, for instance four or five maximum. Most of the content from your paper is not suitable for the poster, only use the most suitable parts, and optionally include more text with details using a small font size at the bottom. Organize the message systematically by using a grid so that all elements are aligned along this grid.
The typography is another very important but also often forgotten aspect of poster design. Choose one proper typography that is well readable and has enough options to variate in size and style. Though, try to minimize the differences in font size, matching the hierarchy structure of the content. Write easy to read sentences but make sure the lines are not too short or long to improve the readability.
The colors of the poster are also an important aspect. Do not use a picture or image with different colors behind a text, it usually makes it too difficult to read. Applying a drop shadow to solve this is not a good solution. Try to never use shadows. Instead, focus on having a high contrast between the text and background color.
For using images and graphics, apply the same rules as for text color. Choose the most important image and decide if it communicates with your audience. It is better to choose one powerful image than a lot of random images. The chronological order of the poster can be changed by positioning the main thing in an unusual position, but then this focus point and the continuing hierarchy must be very clear.
Finally, it is best with scientific posters to just put all logos in a clear line at the bottom in a color bar. They could also be placed vertically, although this is less common and tends to take up more space. When in doubt, just put something big in the poster to get the attention of the audience. Make the poster stand out from the 200 other ones in the same room.