2009 Festival Design, early version
Since 2008, each September, The Homegrown Festival has come to Kerrytown in Ann Arbor. A celebration of local food, farms and community,
2010 Festival Design
the festival has grown each year into a large, lively, fun and successful event. I feel lucky to have been invited these past three years to design the t-shirts and poster images for the festival. My first design in 2009, featured a chicken – in honor of the many backyard chicken coops that have sprouted up in Ann Arbor thanks to a chance in city policy – holding, like a banner, a hybrid branch that is made up of some of the crops found throughout Michigan. It is nice to see that this design has since become become the Homegrown Festival logo.
In 2010, I wanted to explore further what grows or is produced throughout the state of Michigan. In doing the research I was amazed to learn about the variety of crops that Michigan leads the nation in producing. Did you know that Michigan is an international supplier of dry beans? Did you know that the clay soils around Kalamazoo make it the perfect region for major celery production? Well, anyone close enough to listen to me while I was doing the research – like my family – now know. Possibly, the most difficult part was having to leave out the many more crops and products from Michigan in order to make a functioning design.
Visual puzzles have always been an inspiration, and this one was guided as much by the curious fruit and vegetable portraits of the 16th c.Italian painter Arcimboldo as by the “find-the-hidden pictures” game in an old Topogigo book from my childhood.
Here is the design from last year’s festival. I was trying to think of a plant, something edible and seasonal that would also have a lyrical structure. I was amazed to discover upon close looking that the pea stalk is so systematic, kinking its way up between between leaves the shape of lily pads. Graphic designer Jocelyn Gotleib worked colour into my design and did the brochure.
