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 left sidebar of the MSC webpage.
  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 PowerPoint file:

1.       Format: The file needs to be formatted (via Page Setup) as a 40’’x 30’’ poster (that’s 40 inches wide, by 30 inches tall) unless told otherwise by your faculty member.

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,

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 40”x 30” 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.       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 can 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 should NOT be mounted to a foam board.

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

5.       Delivering your poster to MSC for printing: MSC tends to get rushed near the end of the semester so budget in ample time for meeting with the MSC graphics folks so you have time to incorporate their feedback. MSC officially needs your poster file at least 2 business days prior to when you want to pick up your completed posters. If your grade is riding on having the poster at a certain time (like a poster session), recommend that you get it to MSC a week prior to needing it.

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

 

The Computer Science Department Logo in various color configurations and formats: CS-Logo-black_n_white-png, CS-Logo-greyscale-png, CS-Logo-color-small-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 Capstone Project Proposal Squadron Flight Scheduler.  

·         IC480 Capstone Project Final Poster   New Voices For Empowerment

·         IT486D Network Vulnerability Scanning. 

·         IC221 Object Oriented Programming.