Reddit poster crisis: How to design a top-tier ML conference poster on a budget
First-time presenter faces $100 CAD poster printing cost with no room for error
Deep Dive
A Reddit user asks for advice on designing a poster for their first top-tier conference presentation (ICML). They struggle with a theory-oriented math-heavy paper, unsure how to design beyond bold formulas, and face three different ICML sizing recommendations. With printing costing nearly $100 CAD, they have no room for trial and error and ask about using PowerPoint versus Canva or other software.
Key Points
- ICML suggests three different poster sizes, but previewing the printed result in PowerPoint is difficult, leading to design uncertainty.
- A single poster costs $100 CAD to print, making repeated trial-and-error financially infeasible for many PhD students.
- Popular tools range from PowerPoint and Canva to LaTeX packages like `baposter` and TikZ, each with trade-offs for mathematical clarity.
Why It Matters
Despite AI breakthroughs, researchers still lack standardized poster design guidelines—impacting visibility and networking at top conferences.