Educational posters try to depict an idea or a piece of knowledge to a wide audience in a simple yet effective manner. The use of educational posters for education purposes started with the invention of the printing press.

Since then educational posters have been used in one way or the other to impart ideas or knowledge. Education is the prime means through which human ideas are passed on from level to another.

Since prehistoric times man has had a continual thirst for knowledge. To survive, people developed skills that grew into cultural and educational patterns. For a particular group culture to continue into the future, people had to transmit it, or pass it on, from adults to children.

As the human civilization has evolved over the years education has become more and more complex. Our society is being bombarded with more and more information with every passing year. Now a human child roughly has to take about 15 – 18 years of education to fully imbibe the functionalities of our society and this still is considered basic education!

Various educational methods have been developed to speed up the educational pattern and introduce creativity in education. The use of educational posters is one such technique which is being increasingly used by teacher all over the world.

Educational posters are extensively used in school classrooms and hallways, including universities. They have been found to improve the interest level of junior student by increasing creativity and involving imagination. These educational posters are often used for decorative purposes and are a great way of sharing appropriate images and messages. If you want to become a plastic surgeon, you will see many of them at medical school.

The way students relate to them is quite different from the way they relate to other traditional materials like books. An educational poster on a wall might be seen by a student every day over a period of time and the response which it generates inside them it might be quite private rather than shared.

The best posters are those that encourage students to get into some kind of interaction and that challenges them to think about the topic and use their creative potential, or to question or doubt their existing or preconceived ideas.

The educational posters are designed as stand alone commodities – to be self-explanatory in their approach even though they can be used as the focus for group based or whole-class discussion. Their strong visual impact makes them a useful, though sometimes challenging, resource to use with young people.

Educational posters are not designed for use at close quarters therefore activities using these posters need to provide ways for students to really interact with the material. Furthermore they cover a wide range of topics, they explore the world around us, it’s functioning, the technological advancements of mankind and so on.

Educational Posters are a great way to convey an idea to a wide audience as well as to give a quick overview of the intended subject. Viewers can view the material alone at their own pace, or to engage in discussions of the material with the presenter and other viewers.

To create educational posters that attracts viewers , it is essential to create text and graphics that clearly communicate an idea in a short period of time, as people tend to spend only minutes at an each individual poster.

An effective display combines several important elements. It must be visually appealing and easy to read and comprehend. Space is also an important factor in educational posters. It gives the viewer visual pauses to think. Overloading with information is straining to the eye to read and it is seldom read in its entirety.

Irrelevant text or visual distractions such as borders between related data and text should be omitted so that the reader can absorb the ideas in the poster easily and fully. The content of the poster should be simple and to the point. Unnecessary information / facts clutter it up and make it less readable. Finally color themes and set up should be such that it does not take away the attention from the main content.

Educational posters are no longer restricted to classroom teaching or for giving a presentation. Governments all over the world are increasingly using educational posters to educate the public on various issues pertaining to the society. Educational posters in this particular scenario reach a wide audience and are cost effective in delivering their message.

Public health education such as the ill effects of tobacco and excessive drinking is carried out in developing countries on a large scale. Educational posters are a common sight in hospitals, bus stops or any other public places.

They constantly try to inform the public of the various issues they need to take care or think about. Educational posters have been in circulation since a long time. During World War I and II governments used such displays to educate the public on the intricacies of war and the possible constructive methodologies which citizens could adopt.