Typography Poster, Festival

This project was creating a poster for a festival; a Japanese Festival, Obon, was chosen. As everyone who would view the poster only spoke English, the decision was made to refrain from using Japanese. Letting go of personal preferences, and acknowledging the need to remain flexible, created the necessary environment for open-mindedness. Calligraphy brush strokes seen in Japanese characters were transformed to English, by research and experimentation. Using premade paint strokes, the next focus was color; finally a rendered “flame” gradient mirroring the fires that are lit during the festival was created. Inspired by both the lanterns lit at the end of the festival, and the traditional rhythmic dances seen throughout, both the capital “O” and word “Obon” are repeated and patterned across the piece.