Elisa Church-Goupil, a junior illustration major at Daemen University, won first place in the student category of the 2024 Allentown Art Festival poster design contest.
“I’m glad to have created something that expresses what summer and Allentown mean for me,” Church-Goupil said. “I’m glad other people enjoy it too.”
The poster was designed as part of an assignment in one of her illustration classes. With limited time between work and school, she knew it had to be simple, graphic, and not involve detailed painting.
“The sun hat design with simple, flat lawn ornaments you can find at the art festival seemed a good direction to provide maximum impact quickly,” Church-Goupil added. “Because it was for Allentown and to make it eye-catching, I chose multicolored rainbow hair. The hair was based on Alphonse Mucha art nouveau styling.”
She used feedback provided during the class critique to make changes to the typography ahead of the contest deadline.
“Elisa is a dedicated and ambitious artist,” said Phil Longson, an assistant professor in the Visual & Performing Arts Department. “Never content to settle, she always strives to create her best work. It’s great to see her work recognized by the judges of the Allentown Art Festival poster competition. Expect to see a lot more of Elisa’s work in the future.”
The 67th annual Allentown Art Festival will take place in Buffalo’s historic Allentown neighborhood on June 8-9, 2024.