Some posters don’t fail because they lack content. They fail because everything on the page is competing at the same volume.

When Everything Is Important, Nothing Is

The title is loud. The headings are loud. The figures are loud. The highlighted boxes are loud. The result is not strong emphasis, but a loss of direction. When everything looks important, nothing feels clearly important.

Poster A: Equal Weight Everywhere

Imagine a poster where:

• several sections are highlighted in the same way
• multiple figures compete for central attention
• bold text appears across the page without clear hierarchy
• colour is used repeatedly without a clear reason

The viewer may still read parts of it, but the poster offers very little guidance on what matters first.

Let’s take a look at an example:

In this example, where are your eyes drawn first? It might be the centre, or the top, or even the top-left. Especially if you’re familiar with how academic posters are typically structured.

There is no clear starting point. Your attention drifts rather than being guided. Within a few seconds, you are already deciding how much effort this poster is worth.

The figures provide information, but they don’t direct you. There is no clear progression through the content.

This is the issue: without clear weighting, the poster becomes harder to navigate and more demanding to read, particularly in environments where viewers may have dozens of other posters to move through.

Poster B: Clear Priority

Now imagine a poster where:

• one figure or image clearly leads
• one main takeaway is visible early
• headings create a readable route through the content
• emphasis is used selectively rather than everywhere

by Caterina Funghi

In this example, the entry point is clear. The image draws attention immediately. From there, your focus moves naturally to the title, and then through the content in a logical order.

Within seconds, you understand what the poster is about, and where to go next.

While this example is visually appealing, the key difference is not style. It is structure. The poster guides the viewer rather than leaving them to figure it out.

What Changes the Experience

The difference is not simply design preference. It is hierarchy.

Strong posters create contrast through a small number of deliberate choices:

• scale
• spacing
• positioning
• selective emphasis
• visual restraint

These choices help the viewer understand what is primary, what supports it, and what can be explored later.

A Practical Lesson

Where do you read first?

Even without complex visuals, your attention is drawn somewhere first. That is visual hierarchy. The question is whether it has been designed intentionally, or left to chance.

Closing Thought

Good poster emphasis is not about making more things stand out.

It is about making the right things stand out enough that the viewer can follow the message without friction.