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In Full Bloom - An Asian Festival Illustration Poster Design

Illustration of a woman in profile with a pink hibiscus in her braided hair, wearing a red top. The background is a soft pink circle.
Adorned with a vibrant hibiscus flower in her hair, a beautifully illustrated young Asian woman exuding elegance and grace.

This past May, the CelebrAsian annual festival was held in Des Moines, Iowa - a vibrant and diverse event spotlighting the cultures, food, and traditions of various Asian communities. Thanks to my long-time connection to the Korean community through my years living in South Korea, my Christian faith, and my martial arts academy (Furious Fox Martial Arts), I was invited to be a part of the Korean Village tent at the festival.


The invitation came from a good friend currently serving with the Korean-American Society of Iowa (KASI), and I was honored to represent my martial art academy at the event alongside Korean food vendors, other KASI members, and fellow believers from our local Korean church.





Pink hibiscus flower with detailed petals and a yellow stamen. The background is plain white, emphasizing the vibrant colors.
Closeup of "mu-goong-hwa" 무궁화 hibiscus flower

My invitation to join the Korean Village tent came just over two weeks’ notice, and in exchange for the typical vendor fee I was asked to contribute an original poster design for the Korean Village’s promotions - something to be used for both web and print. With this year’s theme being 'CelebrAsian in Full Bloom' I was requested to design a poster illustration for the Asian festival with the Korean national flower the Mugunghwa (five-petaled hibiscus). The poster from previous year displayed photos of Korean cultural artifacts like a beautifully ornate Buddhist drum, but my thoughts turned to drawing and painting a character illustration instead of a typical graphic design format.



Illustration of a woman in traditional Korean attire with a hibiscus flower in her hair. Text details "CelebrAsian 2025" event info. Soft pink tones.
Final KASI Korean Village poster design for CelebrAsian Festival 2025

The image I created features a young woman in a hanbok-inspired costume with a single pink Mugunghwa tucked into her hair - simple, elegant, and symbolic. Most of the illustration work was created in Autodesk Sketchbook Pro - my current favorite drawing software - accomplishing both sketching the concept and digital painting, then after the artwork was complete, I pulled the piece into Affinity Publisher to create the initial 11x17 poster layout and reformatted for KASI’s social media and website dimensions.


I’m grateful for the opportunity to support both the Korean community and the broader multicultural celebration in Des Moines, and I’m especially thankful to those who made space for Furious Fox Martial Arts to be part of it. It’s always rewarding when art, culture, and community come together - and I’m excited to share more projects like this with you in the future.


Until next time, stay creative - and stay inspired.





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