Computer Science Department Project Posters (a tutorial)

CS-Logo-final-large.jpg

 USNA’s Multimedia Support Center (MSC) provides online support for you to use in developing your poster at http://www.usna.edu/MSC/

  1. See above link for MSC Graphics’ staffed hours (usually open fairly late Mon-Thur).
  2. For online help, click on the “Poster Instructions” link on the bottom left of the screen.
  3. Click on “Poster Design Instructions” for some samples to get you started on your posters (ignore the Chemistry and Economics poster samples and use the Computer Science Department Poster Instructions shown below).
    1. The MSC Poster Instructions page is only available on-Yard.
    2. If you are off-Yard, you can get started by using this pdf file which summarizes the MSC guidance for a poster based on a PowerPoint slide.

 

Computer Science Department Poster Instructions: Note that your poster is essentially a blown-up and mounted PowerPoint file:

1.       Format: The file needs to be formatted (via Page Setup) as a 32’’x 24’’ poster (that’s 32 inches wide, by 24 inches tall).

2.       Contents: The poster is to be visually appealing and targeted to covey to a plebe what the particular course is all about. Posters must include:

a.       course number (ICxxx),

b.      course title,

c.       Computer Science Department Logo (in the upper left hand corner)

d.      Brief description of the course (the fewer words the better, but be coherent)

e.      Use white space effectively so poster is not cramped

f.        Motivational/appealing graphics and background that enhance and are relevant to the course description (see the MSC staff for help with graphics and visual appeal aspects of the poster).

3.       Fonts: The following Font sizes for a 32”x 24” poster are suggested to ensure readability:

a.       Title: 100 pts.

b.      Body : 60 pts.

c.       72 points = 1 inch

d.      Hint: You can view the poster at 100% and see exactly what the font sizes will look like on the actual poster.

4.       Initials: MSC needs your professor-approved versions (basically your instructor’s signature on the back of a 8.5x11 paper version of your PowerPoint file) that you deliver to MSC, no later than one week prior to when you want to pick up your completed posters. The MSC tends to get rushed near the end of the semester, so budget in ample time for meeting with the MSC graphics folks.

5.       E-copy: Send your instructor the electronic version of the poster at the same time that you turn in the physical poster.

6.       Using USNA’s MSC. The MSC Graphics Technology Lab itself is located on the main floor of Nimitz Library (room 105) across from the reference desk. The MSC staff is very helpful and will assist you in tweaking your poster to enhance its visual appeal, so budget some time in for this as well.

a.       When you go to MSC, you must be able to access your PowerPoint files (email them to yourself), and allow at least 30 minutes for meeting with the technician, filling out forms, etc. No appointments are necessary.

b.      Any included images must be high resolution (at least 80k).

c.       You poster needs to be mounted to a foam board (done by MSC, but you need to ask).

d.      Contact MSC at 410.293.4028 or x35856 with any questions.

 

The Computer Science Department Logo in various color configurations and formats: CS-Logo-black_n_white-png, CS-Logo-greyscale-png, CS-Logo-color-medium-png, CS-Logo-color-large-png,  CS-Logo-color-large-jpeg, CS-Logo-color-large-pdf. Here’s a nice USNA crest to boot: USNA-Crest-color-bmp

 

Some sample posters created by those who have gone before you:

IC470 Software Engineering Squadron Flight Scheduler Capstone Project Proposal.  

 

IT486D Network Vulnerability Scanning. 

 

IC221 Object Oriented Programming.