Every September, Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands invites the community to Farm Fest, a free, all-ages celebration of Southeast Seattle's urban agriculture community. Think smoothie bikes, llamas and bees, a marching brass band, live music, and food trucks, all set against garden rows and wetlands in one of Seattle's most diverse neighborhoods. When Tilth Alliance reached out to commission the event poster, the brief was clear on one point above all: this had to feel specific to this place and this community, not a generic stand-in for "farm."
I was asked to capture the warmth, energy, and community of a summer day on the farm and make it specific to the farm in Rainier Beach. The goal is to get people excited to show up.
The direction was just as clear about what to avoid as what to include. No red barns, no rural landscapes, ;this is an urban farm rooted in a specific neighborhood, and the poster needed to reflect that: garden rows, fruits and vegetables, with bees, and llamas which are special to the event., Alongside the visual direction came a full list of practical requirements- the four partner logos (Tilth Alliance, Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands, Nurturing Roots, and the City of Seattle), a QR code linking to the event page, and all the event particulars: date, time, location, and the free-and-open-to-all framing that makes Farm Fest what it is.
