[Tex/LaTex] Creation of a new poster template

posterstemplatestikz-pgf

Elena Botoeva has written a package with 5 templates for posters, called fancytikzposter, consisting of a unique TikZ picture. Her class had some success (see here)

I am looking for a way to improve the poster template by decomposing it in independent LaTeX blocks instead of a unique TikZ picture. The aim is to take the advantage of the flexibility of LaTeX (for example, use the multicols environment, instead of complicated TikZ code).

A very good work has been done here by Gonzalo Medina to reproduce in an elegant way the same blocks as in template 4.

The two two remaining steps are to find a way to have a nice frame around the title (ideally as template 4). So if you have any suggestion for the template structure or for the title, fell free to make corrections/suggestions.!

Here is how it looks now : poster
and the code is

\documentclass{sciposter}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,multicol,amsrefs}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{shadows,calc}
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{skins,theorems,breakable}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.4}
\definecolor{myblue}{RGB}{40,96,139}

\tcbset{
mybox/.style={
  breakable,
  freelance,
  boxrule=0.4pt,
  width=\linewidth,
  frame code={%
  \path[draw=black,rounded corners,fill=white,drop shadow]
    (frame.south west) rectangle (frame.north east);
  },
  title code={
  \path[top color=myblue!30,bottom color=myblue!0.5,rounded corners,draw=none]
    ([xshift=\pgflinewidth,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north west) rectangle ([xshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.south east|-title.south east);
  \path[fill=myblue]
  ([xshift=5pt,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north west) to[out=0,in=180] ([xshift=50pt,yshift=-5pt]title.south west) -- ([xshift=-50pt,yshift=-5pt]title.south east) to[out=0,in=180] ([xshift=-5pt,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north east) -- cycle;
  },
  fonttitle=\Large\bfseries\sffamily,
  fontupper=\sffamily,
  fontlower=\sffamily,
  before=\par\medskip,
  after=\par\medskip,
  center title,
  toptitle=3pt,
  top=11pt,
  colback=white
}}
\newtcolorbox{block}[2][\linewidth]{mybox,width=#1,title=#2}


\title{Title}
\author{Author}
\institute{Institute}
\email{email}

%\leftlogo[1.5]{epfl}
\conference{Math project}



\begin{document}
\pagecolor{blue!10!white}
\maketitle

\begin{multicols}{3}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[3]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[4]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[3]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[4]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[1]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[5]
\end{block}

\end{multicols}

\begin{bibdiv}
\begin{biblist}
\bib{xx}{book}{author={Nom}}
\end{biblist}
\end{bibdiv}
\end{document}

Best Answer

Here's one initial version:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[paperwidth=30cm,paperheight=45cm,bmargin=2cm,lmargin=2cm,rmargin=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{array}
\usepackage{url}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{tcolorbox}

\usetikzlibrary{shadows,calc}
\tcbuselibrary{skins,theorems,breakable}

\definecolor{myblue}{RGB}{40,96,139}

\tcbset{
mybox/.style={
  breakable,
  freelance,
  boxrule=0.4pt,
  width=\linewidth,
  frame code={%
  \path[draw=black,rounded corners,fill=white,drop shadow]
    (frame.south west) rectangle (frame.north east);
  },
  title code={
  \path[top color=myblue!30,bottom color=myblue!0.5,rounded corners,draw=none]
    ([xshift=\pgflinewidth,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north west) rectangle ([xshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.south east|-title.south east);
  \path[fill=myblue]
  ([xshift=5pt,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north west) to[out=0,in=180] ([xshift=50pt,yshift=-5pt]title.south west) -- ([xshift=-50pt,yshift=-5pt]title.south east) to[out=0,in=180] ([xshift=-5pt,yshift=-\pgflinewidth]frame.north east) -- cycle;
  },
  fonttitle=\Large\bfseries\sffamily,
  fontupper=\sffamily,
  fontlower=\sffamily,
  before=\par\medskip\noindent,
  after=\par\medskip,
  center title,
  toptitle=3pt,
  top=11pt,
  colback=white
}}

\newtcolorbox{block}[2][\linewidth]{mybox,width=#1,title=#2}

\makeatletter
\newlength\TitleHt

\newcommand\InsertTitle[1]{\gdef\@InsertTitle{#1}}
\newcommand\InsertAuthor[1]{\gdef\@InsertAuthor{#1}}
\newcommand\InsertInstitute[1]{\gdef\@InsertInstitute{#1}}
\newcommand\InsertEmail[1]{\gdef\@InsertEmail{\url{#1}}}

\newcommand\Titlefont{\color{white}\fontsize{40}{48}\sffamily}
\newcommand\Authorfont{\color{white}\LARGE\sffamily}
\newcommand\Institutefont{\color{white}\Large\sffamily}
\newcommand\Emailfont{\color{white}\normalsize}

\newcommand\MakeTitle{%
\setbox0=\vbox{%
\begin{tabular}{@{}>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{\textwidth}@{}}
 \Titlefont\@InsertTitle \\
 \Authorfont\@InsertAuthor \\
 \Institutefont\@InsertInstitute \\
 \Emailfont\@InsertEmail \\
\end{tabular}}%
\setlength\TitleHt{\ht0}%
\addtolength\TitleHt{\dp0}%
\addtolength\TitleHt{1.5cm}%
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay]
\path[clip] 
  (current page.north west) -- (current page.north east) --
  ([yshift=-0.5\TitleHt]current page.north east) to[out=270,in=0] 
  ([yshift=-\TitleHt,xshift=-60pt]current page.north east) -- 
  ([yshift=-\TitleHt,xshift=60pt]current page.north west) to[out=180,in=270]
  ([yshift=-0.5\TitleHt]current page.north west) -- cycle;
\fill[fill=myblue] 
  (current page.north west) -- (current page.north east) --
  ([yshift=-0.5\TitleHt]current page.north east) to[out=270,in=0] 
  ([yshift=-\TitleHt,xshift=-60pt]current page.north east) -- 
  ([yshift=-\TitleHt,xshift=60pt]current page.north west) to[out=180,in=270]
  ([yshift=-0.5\TitleHt]current page.north west) -- cycle;
\path[top color=myblue!15,bottom color=myblue!65] 
  (current page.north east) .. controls
    ([yshift=-0.2\TitleHt,xshift=-50pt]current page.north east) 
    and ([yshift=-0.7\TitleHt,xshift=0pt]current page.north east) ..
  ([yshift=-1.1\TitleHt,xshift=-90pt]current page.north east)  .. controls
    ([yshift=-0.8\TitleHt,xshift=5pt]current page.north east) 
    and ([yshift=-0.2\TitleHt,xshift=-22pt]current page.north east) ..
  (current page.north east);
\path[top color=myblue!15,bottom color=myblue!65] 
  (current page.north east) .. controls
    ([yshift=-0.2\TitleHt,xshift=-90pt]current page.north east) 
    and ([yshift=-0.7\TitleHt,xshift=-20pt]current page.north east) ..
  ([yshift=-1.1\TitleHt,xshift=-110pt]current page.north east)  .. controls
    ([yshift=-0.8\TitleHt,xshift=-15pt]current page.north east) 
    and ([yshift=-0.2\TitleHt,xshift=-62pt]current page.north east) ..
  (current page.north east);
\node[anchor=south,text width=\paperwidth,align=center] at ([yshift=\the\dimexpr-\TitleHt+0.25cm\relax]current page.north) {\box0};
\end{tikzpicture}%
}
\makeatother

\InsertTitle{The Title of the Presentation}
\InsertAuthor{The Author}
\InsertInstitute{The Name of the Institution}
\InsertEmail{www.stackexchange.com}

\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}
\pagecolor{myblue!30}
\MakeTitle
\vspace*{2cm}

\begin{multicols}{3}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[3]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[4]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[2]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[3]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[4]
\end{block}
\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[1]
\end{block}

\begin{block}{Title of a block}
\lipsum[5]
\end{block}

\end{multicols}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Conference Announcement Poster

I think the poster still needs a little bit of a massage, both typographically as well as the copy. First the headline.

With a poster you want to get the attention of the reader. The headline has just a few seconds to attract attention in which the reader will decide to read further on or walk away. You can use what the advertising industry calls the ABC headline formula.

     A = Attention
     B = Benefits
     C = Creativity
 A+B+C = Headline

I think the headline needs to be turned around a bit. You need to decide if it is a symposium or conference and the announcement line can be omitted.

I would also remove the INVITED FROM "INVITED SPEAKERS". "Speakers" would suffice. You could also include photos of the speakers in a block below the poster. Images of people's faces will attract attention.

The colored graphic is distracting from the message, I will make it as transparent as possible and include it as a backdrop. All contact details I would put at the bottom, including the email, but I would not frame it in angle brackets. I would also remove the "more information" at the bottom and just have a www.website.us/etc/etc., no need for the http:\\ part.

And here is a very opinionated announcement. A bit of a modified headline. The reader goes nearer to have a look, we answer his questions, who is speaking, where, what is the benefit for him/her a little more details (its your 30 seconds elevator speech), who to contact where etc (can be below the text at the right, which I did not include). The graphics obviously and photos will need some work and attention, but if your selling point is the invited speakers, you should promote that.

enter image description here

Update

I added another variation to the theme, using a graphic rather than faces as the consensus appears to be that a Lorenz type of attractor will be more likely to attract the attention of the group than faces (although I am sure that when you looked at the examples here, your attention was drawn to the faces first). Unless one does some A/B testing we will never know. One needs to really experiment with the copy once all the information is known. I used the mathpazo font at 65pt and the soul package for spacing out. One should also print the poster and experiment with sizes. I would stick to my guns and not have any text on the graphics.

Schmendrich's ideas are also good especially the qr-code, you should try and incorporate it in the final version.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{mathpazo,xcolor}
\usepackage[top=1cm,left=1cm,right=1cm,bottom=1cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx,soul,lipsum}
\parindent0pt
\def\lorem{\leavevmode Fusce adipiscing justo nec ante. Nullam in enim.
 Pellentesque felis orci, sagittis ac, malesuada et, facilisis in,
 ligula. Nunc non magna sit amet mi aliquam dictum. In mi. Curabitur
 sollicitudin justo sed quam et quadd. \par}
\makeatletter
\def\HUGE{\@setfontsize\HUGE{65}{90}}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty}

\raggedbottom
\begin{minipage}{0.8\textwidth}
\sffamily
\centering
\HUGE{\bf SYMPOSIUM}\\

\LARGE{\textbf{\so{CAROLINA DYNAMICS GROUP}}}\\

\Large{\textbf{\so{CLEMSON UNIVERSITY}}}\\
%\large{\textbf{APRIL 5, 2012}}

\bigskip

\begin{minipage}[b]{0.6\textwidth}
\normalsize
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{lorenzattractor01}

\textbf{PRESENTED BY THE CAROLINA DYNAMICAL \\ SYSTEMS GROUP}. Some more text here to fill the space. You need to get the reader to stop and read a bit more. Some more text here to fill the space. \par 
\rule{0pt}{32pt}
\end{minipage}\hspace{5pt}
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.37\textwidth}
\textbf{\large INVITED SPEAKERS}\par

{\leavevmode \raggedright
Dr Liang Foo\\
Dr Berry Ling\\
Dr Zezsko Petrovick \\
Dr A Berchowitz\\
\par{}
}

\medskip

\large{\textbf{VENUE}}

The symposium will take place at Clemson University.

\medskip

{\large\raggedright
{\textbf{DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS}}
\par
}
\normalsize
\smallskip

\lorem\lorem\lorem

\medskip
\textbf{\large ORGANIZERS}\par
Martin Schmoll, Clemson University\\
Predrag Punosevac, Augusta State \\
University
\medskip

\textbf{\large CONTACT }\par

Predrag Punosevac, Augusta State\\
University
\textcolor{blue}{email@mail.com}

\rule{0pt}{78pt}
\end{minipage}
\vspace*{-70pt}

\HUGE{\bf APRIL 5 $\cdot$  2012}\\
\end{minipage}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] How to run this poster template

pstricks requires a PostScript interpreter at some point in the document production (there is a hint in the name) so while there are packages to give access to parts of its functionality from pdflatex (by executing external programs in the background) its natural workflow is latex-dvips-ps2pdf. The \c@lor@to@ps error commonly occurs when the dvips back end of the color package has not been loaded (because pdftex has been detected).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Conference Announcement Poster

[Tex/LaTex] How to run this poster template

Related Question