2013 Pumpkin Festival Design Contest Winner, Matt Farrar

Matt Farrar’s playful and creative design was selected as the winner of the 2013 Pumpkin Festival Poster Design Contest and is featured as the centerpiece on all promotional material for this year’s 43rd annual festival, October 19-20.

Farrar, a native of Washington State, grew up on Whidbey Island. He studied Fine Art at a small private art college in Seattle and has been working as a studio artist, illustrator and graphic designer since graduating in 1996.

Presently, he is self-employed as the sole proprietor of Ignition Designs www.ignitiondesigns.org which provides digital and analog design services to small and large clients, print publications and art galleries in the Monterey Bay area. For the past ten years, he has lived in Santa Cruz with his wife, Jane.

In describing the design, Farrar said the initial idea included a hawk perched atop the large pumpkin. “I wanted to show HMB's closeness to nature and the co-habitation of wilderness and agriculture. The hawk became the hero when the pumpkin was supposed to be. I edited out the hawk and found I really liked the relaxed feeling the pensive rabbit lent to the scene. It was also important to me to capture the coast, mist and fog, the water and the landforms from a rapidly ascending hill. It's a regional piece.”

Farrar said his approach to this particular design was tailored to the project. “The style I chose to work from was one made of blocks of color without gradients that when overlapped would create both shallow and deep space. As a graphic designer I knew I would need to leave space for setting type. This created some very pleasant open space and set the composition up in such a way to place the pumpkins in the center of the piece. As an illustrator I am drawn to showing the few things that are most important,” he said.

"I was thrilled to hear I'd been the chosen winner. Not being a native to the California coast, this award made me feel as though I'd finally become a local,” Farrar said. “It’s such a high-profile, beloved festival and I am honored and appreciative to have been chosen as the winner."

Farrar received $1,000 for his winning design.

Entries from the 2014 Pumpkin Festival Poster Design Contest, a joint effort by the Coastal Arts League and Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee, will be on display as part of a special show during the month of October at the Coastal Arts League Gallery, 300 Main Street in Half Moon Bay. Stop by to vote for the “People’s Choice” award and to see the submissions for next year’s festival.

A special opening and reception, with all contest entries on display, will be held on Friday, October 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the gallery.

WEBSITE: http://www.miramarevents.com/pumpkinfest/

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/HalfMoonBayPumpkinFestival

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/HMBPumpkinFest/