Steps to Follow:
The first step is to create glowing crystals that will catch everyone’s attention!
In the example, the crystals are at the bottom of the board but you can put them wherever you choose.
- The Holographic Poster Board creates a shimmering effect and we added some spray painted acetate (plastic) to make our glowing crystals. If you don’t have acetate you can use clear plastic that you may have around your house such as plastic windows from boxes or projector transparencies. Adding a very light coat of spray paint, or transparent spray paint to the plastic can add a great pop of color.
- Print out the Large Crystals template and cut along the solid lines. Trace the different sized crystals onto your Holographic Poster Board and spray painted plastic. Using the different sized crystals can make some interesting formations when you layer them together.
- Cut out the shapes that you traced and fold the crystals in half long ways. To make it easier to fold, use a folding bone to score the center of the crystal before folding it. This fold will help your crystals really pop off the page.
- Now it is time to glue the crystals to a white poster board. When hot gluing down the crystals, only put hot glue on the left and right edges, so that the crystals stick off of the board. Layering the different sized and colored materials will also add more dimensions to your creation. Tip: Use shorter pieces of Holographic Poster Board to cover the bottom few inches of the plastic strips. You will put the poster lights behind the Holographic Poster Board, this way you won’t see the lights through the plastic.
- Cut around the crystals, leaving a half-inch edge of White Poster Board sticking out around the crystals. This will make your crystals really stand out against the white background.
- Place your white poster board with the crystals on top of a Neon Pink Poster Board and trace around the edges. Cut out the Pink Poster Board.
- Now you’re going to start attaching the crystals to your trifold! Start by covering the entire board with Neon Blue Poster Board. Next, attach the Neon Pink Poster that you cut out. Attach the White Poster with the crystals on top of the pink board. Slightly offset the two colors so that the pink peeks out from behind the white.
- Now it’s time to add lights! Using the wooden hole punch tool, included with the poster lights, punch out random holes behind the acetate crystals. Make sure that the holes are low enough to be covered by the holographic board so that you can’t see the light bulbs behind the acetate. You can have one or multiple lights behind each crystal. For more help with poster lights, visit our website for a video tutorial [http://www.artskills.com/products/Lights-Sound-Motion/poster-lights].
- Flip the trifold over and push the lights through the holes that you just punched. Adhere the battery pack to the back and add batteries.
Making an Awesome Header
The header is a great place to put an eye-catching title using cool poster letters. If you need help thinking of a title, check out our tips for choosing a title on the FAQ [http://www.artskills.com/ScienceFairSOS/Science-Fair-FAQ.aspx] page.
- The first step is to cover the header with poster board. Our sample uses black poster board. We also cut the edges of the header into crystal shapes. If you will be cutting your header, don’t forget to leave enough space for your title! You can also add pictures of rock candy to add some more color to the header.
- Next, adhere your title to the header. The example has layered Neon Poster Letters on top of White Poster Letters to create a 3D effect and added silver glitter letters for the second part of the title. You can use any color combination of poster letters to make your header text sparkle!
- To add more color to your header, cut crystal shapes out of the Neon Pink Poster Board and Holographic Board. Adhere them to the back of the header so that they drop below the bottom of the header.
Adding Your Information
The last step is to add your project details and results to your board. You should put them in an order that will make sense to the viewer. Don’t forget to choose fonts that are easy to see and read. When laying out your information, DON’T glue anything down. You want to make sure that you are happy with your layout before applying glue. Make sure that your header will cover none of your information up.
The example poster is laid out in the following order:
- The Purpose and Hypothesis in the center of the board under the title.
- The materials and procedure on the left of the trifold. Adding pictures of your process can help people understand how you conducted your experiment.
- The Results and Conclusion on the right side of the trifold. You should display your data, using some kind of chart or table so that your information easily understand.
*Tip: To make your information really stand out, you can add crystal details to the borders of your information. In the example, all of the information is framed with neon yellow poster board to make it pop off of the blue background. Crystal shapes on top of all of the frames helps to tie the poster together. You can experiment with different border colors and shapes before you decide which one you like the best. If you want to add crystal details, you can create your own or use our Crystal Border template.
Finishing Your Poster
- If you are happy with your layout, glue/attach everything down.
- The final step is to attach the header to the top of the board and turn on your lights.
- Now you can step back and admire your sparkling masterpiece!
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