Columbus State professor earns second place in Ohio State Fair poster contest

Campus News | Friday, July 31, 2026

Digital Art, Media, and Design Professor Gene Strickland’s digital illustration poster (below) earned second place in the contest to create the official poster for this year’s Ohio State Fair. The annual contest this year celebrates America’s 250th anniversary. Strickland said, “Its red, white, and blue palette was intentional to connect the traditions of the Ohio State Fair with the nation’s milestone anniversary.” It was created in Adobe Photoshop 2026 using a Wacom drawing tablet. 

Strickland said, “AI tools were used during the early ideation stage to explore and evaluate possible visual directions. Selected ideas were then substantially developed and transformed through manual compositing, digital painting, proportion adjustments, typography, and detailed artistic and graphic design-oriented refinement in Photoshop.”

The final composition, imagery, color palette, typography, layout, and visual hierarchy reflect Strickland’s creative judgment and hands-on execution with today’s digital tools. 

See the official poster contest results from the Ohio State Fair.

 

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