Making posters (still)

I was hoping to finish my poster up yesterday so I could get the slides for my talk prepared during the latter half of the week. Unfortunately, I had to change some figures around, and create a few new ones to fill in the voids. I've just about got it done now, but I have to go back and add a few figure labels and then go back through it all and make sure everything is nicely aligned.

One of the most important skills you (should) pick up in grad school is the ability to design and lay out your data into meaningful figures. You have to know which data to include and which data to skip. You have to be able to pick out representative examples of your data (pick the prettiest data that accurately represents the conclusions your making). You have to make sure that everything is labelled clearly so that the poster viewers know what they're looking at (just in case they come to check out your poster when you're not there). Lastly, you have to double-check for spelling errors, poor grammar, and misalignment. Nothing says you do sloppy work louder than when you have a mis-spelled word or a panel in a figure doesn't line up with the other panels.

Since your peers and possibly future employer will be looking your poster over, it pays to be careful and give close attention to the details.