Graphics are an excellent way to deliver information to your audience. The graphics you use will depend on your audience and the type of information you are sharing. No matter what graphics you use, they should be easy-to-read and self-explanatory.
There's a good chance you may need to use some graphics that you didn't create. There are many high-quality graphics available online, but you must follow the rules of copyright. Copyright protects a creator's rights to make a profit from what they have created. Some creators license their products for a fee, some release them with Creative Commons licenses, and some put their works into public domain. For more information about copyright you can check out our Copyright & Fair Use Guide or watch this short video.
We recommend printing images that have at least 300 pixels per inch (ppi) to keep your graphics from being blurry. When looking for images, consider the size that image should be on the finished poster in inches. Use the sketch you drew from the Academic Poster Planning Worksheet to estimate the size. Multiply those dimensions by 300 and search for images in that resolution.
Google images has a "Usage Rights" feature built into the search engine. Go to images.google.com and search for the graphic you need. Select the "Tools" button under the search bar and change the "Usage Rights" drop down menu to "Labeled for reuse with modification." This will ensure that you can use and edit the graphics you find.
The key goal of The Commons is to share hidden treasures from the world's public photography archives. Participating creators license their works when they upload them to Flickr and they can be filtered by usage rights like Google Image Search. Go to www.flickr.com/commons and search for your graphic. Using the "License" drop-down menu, select "Modifications Allowed" so that you can use and change the results you find.
Charts and graphs are great at delivering numerical data visually, but what if you are sending a different type of information? Ideas, concepts, and emotions can also be conveyed visually. When you know the message you want to send you can be creative with how it is delivered.
You may have a concept written in your text that can be conveyed visually. Look at the larger chunks of text and think if the concept can be shared with graphics instead.
"Open Education combines the traditions of knowledge sharing and creation with 21st century technology to create a vast pool of openly shared educational resources, while harnessing today’s collaborative spirit to develop educational approaches that are more responsive to learner’s needs."
This graphic was made using icons from flaticon.com with elements in PowerPoint like text boxes. It delivers the main concept of the paragraph above in a way that could be understood by individuals who don't read English. Consider the visuals that could be used to share your message.