State Festival Poster Project

In my traditional methods illustration class at CCAD this semester, one of the projects we worked on recently was a State Festival poster. Basically, I pulled a number from a bucket, I think it was 24, and then I was told that gave me the state South Carolina. I've never been to South Carolina, and I have zero idea of what state festivals could possibly happen there, so I jumped into some research. I made a list of some interesting festival names. I came across some that were interesting. See my whole process below!

Sketchbook Page 1
List of State Festivals in South Carolina 

Sketchbook Page 2
Narrowing Down Selections 

Sketchbook Page 3
Narrowing Down Selections

Sketchbook Page 4
Thumbnails Page 1

Sketchbook Page 5
Thumbnails Page 2

Sketchbook Page 6
Layout #1

Sketchbook Page 7
Thumbnails Page 3

Sketchbook Page 8
Thumbnails Page 4

Sketchbook Page 9
Layout #2

Sketchbook Page 10
Layout #3

Sketchbook Page 11
Layout #4

Sketchbook Page 12
Final Layout Linework

Finished 13 x 19 Acrylic Painting

Hand Lettering for Festival Poster Title

Adobe Illustrator Vector of Hand Lettering

Final 13 x 19 Poster

Overall, this was a really interesting project. It's one of the first times I have tried to integrate type into an illustration, so there were some struggles here and there. I tried to find fonts that were Japanese looking in nature, but they were all very stereotypical, so I had to do some hand lettering. Ultimately, I think it was for the best. What do you think?