Poster Making Tips and Guidelines

Program Contact

Autumn Britt, 4-H Program Manager
509-588-7817 • autumn.britt@wsu.edu

Posters must have one main idea. It must present 4-H in a positive way.
Avoid main ideas that make the viewer think of tobacco, illegal drugs or alcohol.
Keep number of words to a minimum, no more than 6 words.
Lettering and artwork must be large enough to be seen from a distance, a minimum of 10 feet.
Keep pencil lines light when drawing on your design and erase any that show after your artwork is completed.
Broad felt tip markers, construction paper cut outs or paints are acceptable.
Materials must be securely fastened and durable. Posters will be handled often during judging. If you use raised materials, they must not be higher than 1/8 inch. Rubber cement is recommended for gluing,
It is highly recommended that all posters be laminated or covered with clear contact paper before submitting them for judging. This protects your poster during the judging process. Covering your poster is not a requirement, however.
Three or four colors are often enough. Do not use too many colors. Colors should be pleasing to the eye. Apart from guideline #10 below, it is okay to be creative in your color use.
The 4-H clover must be included somewhere on the poster. It also must be displayed correctly. This means a green 4-leaf clover with white H’s.
All posters must be made on standard poster board measuring 14 by 22 inches. Poster board may be white or colored. It may be vertical or horizontal.
The 4-H member must include specific information on the back of their poster in the upper left-hand corner. Please make certain this information is firmly attached to the poster and legible. Include your name, full address, age by October 1st of current 4-H year, grade in school, 4-H level, club name, leader’s name, and an interpretative statement. This statement should be brief, just a few sentences long. It should explain to the judge what your main idea is trying to say.
If stencils are used to make your letters, they should be filled in solidly.
Avoid use of commercial characters or artwork, such as “Peanuts”, “Disney” etc. If there are 5 changes made to a commercial design, they are considered acceptable. If you use a commercial design for your poster, please attach a copy of that design to the back of your
poster, indicating the 5 changes you made.
The top county entries in each category will receive special recognition in the County 4-H Poster Art Program.
Our local fairs offer other opportunities to display members’ current project posters. Check fair premium books for specific requirements.

General Poster Making Tips

These tips are overall suggestions for making posters with a variety of purposes. Make sure to check fair or event guidelines if you are submitting a poster for judging.

The Purpose of 4-H Posters

4-H Posters provide an opportunity for members to share information about 4-H and a wide range of projects. Posters may be stand-alone pieces that can be exhibited at fairs and events, or visual aids developed to assist with presentations.

Posters are different than educational displays. An educational display is larger and more detailed than a poster, typically consisting of a trifold board or multiple poster panels that provides the audience a more detailed description of a topic.

Poster	Display
Size: single poster	Size: multiple posters or a trifold board
Purpose: must grab viewers’ attention and teach them something quickly or assists with a presentation	Purpose: must attract the viewers’ attention and hold it for a longer period of time to teach in more detail
Viewing Distance: 10 feet or more	Viewing Distance: 3 feet or less
Content: one main idea	Content: multiple thoughts on a common subject
Data Source: information sources must be listed on the back of the poster	Data Source: information sources should be listed as a part of the educational display

Quick differences between a poster and an educational display.

If your idea is too complicated to explain in a poster, consider making it into an educational display instead.

Communication Value

Signs attract attention in order to identify something, offer directions, or issue a command. A poster does more. A good poster is self-explanatory, or it speaks for itself.

Posters make people
stop
read
and
remember.

An effective poster attracts attention, focuses on a main interest or idea, and motivates you to take action.

Secrets of Success

A successful poster will:

Catch the eye of the passerby.
Be simple and clear: People glance only briefly and are
immediately “told or sold”, don’t be too wordy.
Impress an idea or a fact upon the viewer (remember, focus on one idea or interest).
Stimulate the viewer to support your idea, get more information, or take appropriate action.
Have space left over- white space is not blank space. Posters that are uncluttered are easier to read.

Notes on Poster Formats

Even if your “poster” is a digital slide deck or in a virtual format, these general tips still apply!

Planning a Poster

As mentioned earlier, a poster should have one main idea. A presentation may require a series of posters to illustrate the points of your talk. (Thus, the phrase: illustrated talk.) Have the reason for the poster clearly in mind before you start. If you are working on a presentation, an outline of the topic may be helpful. For help in preparing a presentation refer to Public Presentations, Demonstrations and Illustrated Talks.

Consider who your viewers will be.
Decide what you want them to know.
Decide what you want them to do.
Think of a clever theme or slogan. Your title should be based on this theme and will identify the exhibit as well as attract attention.
Limit your effort to one main idea that can be expressed in a short single sentence statement.
Make a small rough sketch.
Remember that this type of visual communication is an aid to what you are trying to teach with your presentation.

Materials Needed

There are a variety of materials that may be used to create posters. Letters may be hand-drawn, computer generated, pre-cut, stenciled, etc. Any paper substantial enough to stand up on an easel, foam board, cardboard, or poster board may all be used to create posters. Be sure and refer to the contest guidelines (fair books, etc) to insure that you are creating a poster of the proper size. For presentations, posters should be large enough to be viewed from 8 to 16 feet away, and small enough for the presenter to easily handle.

Once the base is selected, other materials can be gathered to give the poster more eye appeal. Markers, paints, glue, and scissors may all be necessary when constructing a poster. Don’t forget a ruler and a pencil.

Start off with some scratch paper and sketch out how you want your poster to look. This will help you be more specific on the type of materials you need.

Just because you find information on the internet does not make it true!

Gather the information you will need by deciding where to get your information or references from. If you are finding your references online or from books and manuals, make a list so you can refer to them later if you need to check facts or go back for more information. Check to see if your sources are reliable–who wrote the information, and are they an authority on this subject? You can learn a little about the organization publishing an online source by looking at its web address.

An educational institution, such as a college, university, or school, will have a website that ends in “.edu”
Websites run or funded by government agencies, such as NASA or the US Department of Agriculture, will end in “.gov”
Professional organizations, scientific and research societies, and nonprofit organizations will have websites identified by “.org”

Remember that 4-H projects should be backed by research based information, so try to find websites and books that list their sources! 4-H project books are published by educational institutions and experts in their subject areas. They are great starting places for your research. But don’t just let that be where you stop looking. It is always a wise decision to verify your information through more than one reliable source!

Part of making your poster as accurate as possible is to avoid stating opinions as though they are facts. As an example:

Instead of saying, “still life photography is the best way to show your skill,”
Consider: “still life photography can be an effective way to show your skill.”

Check, double check, and triple check everything before you begin!

Be brief
Be neat
Be colorful
Be accurate and check your spelling, grammar, and facts
It’s OK to leave white space – remember that uncluttered posters are easier to read!

Choosing Colors

Color combinations affect how easily the message is read as well as the overall appearance of the poster.

Consider the Contrast: This means you use dark letters on a light background, and light letters on a dark background.
Let the most important items be the most important color.
Colors that are close to the background shade will not show up well and cannot be read at a distance.
Avoid using too many different colors. Two or three should be sufficient. This is for the purpose of letters and backgrounds, color photos or clipart may be added to enhance your poster, just be sure they do not overwhelm your main point!
Avoid putting red and green next to each other- this is hard to focus on if a person is colorblind.
Avoid bright neon colors- they may catch the eye, but they are hard to focus on.

Lettering

Lower case letters are easier to read than all capitals. Use capitals only for emphasizing an important phrase or word to give variety.
Save fancy or script lettering for catching the attention of the viewer.
When hand lettering, always use guidelines. Using a ruler, lightly pencil in straight lines that can be erased when your poster is complete.
Letters may be cutout and glued on, or precut letters may be purchased.
Keep written material to a minimum. Use only headings, captions and signs necessary to tell the story. Use different size lettering for items of varying importance.
Allow margins to keep things from running together and looking too cluttered.

Lettering Size and Viewing Distance

Size	Viewing Distance	Line Thickness
1/2 inch	10 feet	3/32 inch
3/4 inch	20 feet	1/8 inch
2 inches	50 feet	5/16 inch

Lettering size greatly influences how easily your poster can be seen at a distance without requiring the viewer to squint or strain.

Your poster should be easily readable from 10-20 feet away.

Readable – all letters should be well-drawn and all words spelled correctly.
Simple – each poster should contain only one idea. This one idea should be expressed by illustrations and the poster shouldn’t be too wordy. Plan before you start – choose the drawing first and then pick the least number of words needed to get your idea across.
Well Designed – The drawing and the words should be put together in a way that will be pleasing to the person who looks at the poster.

Revise, Redo, Rearrange

Refer to your original sketch. Cut out your letters, pictures, and graphics or create quick placeholder sketches if there are things you will draw directly on the poster. Draw guidelines and place your letters. Lay out all your components in a rough draft on your poster. Ask yourself: How does it look?

Revise and rearrange as you need! Redo anything that should be a different color or size. Can you read it from a distance? Make your adjustments and move things around until you’re happy with your overall effect and message.

Glue or fasten everything in place once you like your results, and remember, neatness counts!

Get Feedback

Ask your parents, other 4-H members, leaders, or 4-H staff to look at your poster to give feedback! You can do this at any point in the process, including before you make your final placements of your poster elements. A second set of eyes can help you catch details you might have overlooked and give you insight into how your audience might read your poster.

Final Touches

Double check that all letters or drawn objects are outlined with permanent marker (washable markers can smear).
Erase all excess pencil lines neatly. A gum eraser makes this process easier on most poster surfaces!
Posters may be laminated for their protection. If you can’t get them laminated, protect them in a large trash bag until they’re needed for display or judging.
Don’t forget to put required information on the back of your poster – your name, your age, your division (Jr., Int., Sr.), your club name, the sources of your information, and your club leader’s signature (or any other information required by your fair or contest).
Practice using your posters in your presentations before it’s time to display them. You want to make sure your transitions between speaking and showing things on your poster is as smooth as possible.
Have fun with your presentation!
Consider entering your poster in the county fair. Your club could also sponsor a poster contest promoting 4-H and then use those posters around your local community!