Guidelines for poster presenters – FIP Capetown 2024 (2025)

Poster schedule on site

Purpose of these guidelines

This information is designed to help you prepare a poster that meets the criteria for FIP congresses.

Overall layout

Most posters are laid out in thefollowing segments:

• Title(Identical to the title of abstract; since some people may choose to visit yourposter based on the abstract. See also below)
• Author’snames and affiliations
• Introduction
• Aims
• Method
• Results
• Conclusions(Keep in mind that the first thing most viewers will do is look for and readyour conclusion so, make sure the conclusions section of your poster is easy toidentify and read.)
• References(Use a smaller font size. Reference only the most relevant articles related tothe work and/or on the work’s background and methods used).
• Contactdetails (e.g. email, phone number, website)and acknowledgements (These areoptional but they should appear in smaller font size.)

Design considerations

Size The size of the poster boards is portrait and is be 0.95 meter wide X 225 meters high. We recommend to print the poster on an A0 format (84 cm x 119 cm or 0.84 meters x 1.19 meters),

Title Ithas been shown that text in capital letters takes 10% more time to be read thanlower case text; so your title will be more easily read if it is in lower case.

Choose a large font size for theposter’s title, author and company; not less than 72 points.

TextAposter should be easily readable from a distance of 1 or 2 meters. Therefore,your font size should not be less than 16 points.

Avoid fonts that mimic hand writing orare difficult to read. Arial or Times New Roman are usually a good choice. Usethe chosen font throughout your poster: don’t mix up different fonts on yourposter text.

To facilitate reading, double-linespace and justify all the text. The shorter and the simpler the sentences are,the easier your poster will be to read.

Important parts of the text may behighlighted using different colors. Major colors that are easily readable are:

• Black on white (or a cream coloredbackground)
• Red on white (or a cream coloredbackground)
• Green on white (or a cream coloredbackground)
• Blue on white (or a cream coloredbackground)

Subtitles Allocate a specific color to thesubtitles within the poster so that they will be better distinguished from thetext.

Figures

• All figures should include briefcaptions/legends. It is sometimes advisable to show on the figure what is themost important using an arrow, bubble or label.
• Use the same font throughout yourposter (in both the text and graphics).
  Tables are preferable when data sets are small.
• Lines in graphics should be thin.Graphics should lean towards a horizontal format rather than vertical. Ensurethat within graphics, the axes are properly labelled, including with units. Anysymbols should be explained.
• Preference should be given to:
• Bar graphs or histograms for the comparisonof two groups;
• Line graphs for the evolution ofparameters;
• Pie-charts to represent a proportionwithin a whole.
• Use pictures or images of sufficientlyhigh resolution in order to ensure good quality print. Be sure to use pictureswithout copyrights. Moreover, try to use images that are clear and of goodcolor and contrast (not too dark, not too light). Photos may be used toillustrate the location of the study and or the tools used.

Poster tips

• Organise your poster with the startingpoint at the upper left corner and the ending part at the lower right corner.
• Reading may be facilitated byindicating each of the poster segments (apart from the title) with a largenumber. The differentiation between the different segments could be shown withlines, bars or appropriate spaces. (See example image.)

• Posters are first of all visualpresentations. As such, it is good to keep in mind that graphs, charts, photosor tables are particularly eye-catching. It is often considered that around 50%of a poster should be dedicated to illustrations.
• To increase the proportion of figuresin a poster a simple method would be to think first of what figures, tables,etc, would be used if you had to describe your work only with visuals.Remaining items and ideas not covered by figures can then be added using text.
• Keep in mind that many FIP congressattendants are not native English speakers, so it is wise to use simple andclear words. Avoid abbreviations as much as possible.

After writing your poster

Printyour poster A poster printed on onesingle large sheet is recommended.

Displayingyour poster Think of your poster as a valuablepiece of knowledge. Do not leave it unattended when travelling. Time slots forhanging up, being present and taking down your poster will be published on thecongress website.Necessary materials for hanging your poster will beavailable in the exhibition area.

Maximise impact It is recommended thatyou produce handouts (maximum of two A4 pages) of your poster.Enablepeople to contact you, for example, by putting an envelope below your poster forinterested individuals to leave their business card if they are not able tomeet you at the poster exhibition.

Liability Allposter presenters are responsible for putting up and removing their own posterin a proper way. If presenters do not remove their poster in time, FIP is notresponsible for any damage that might happen to the poster if it is removed bystaff members.

Upon arrival at the congress

Schedule of topics per day

Please check below the exact timings on the day of your presentation.

N.B. Please note that outside the official exhibition hours it is not possible to enter the Exhibition Hall.

Registration on site

When you arrive in Cape Town, please come to the registration desk to collect your badge. 5 days before the congress you will receive a detailed email with more information regarding your registration.