York Fair Coloring Wall

Internship Project — Environmental / Experiential Design

Create a large-scale, interactive mural that educates visitors about Pennsylvania's dairy industry. The mural needed to be fun, approachable, and engaging for all ages — encouraging guests to color directly on the wall during the fair.

Working with the York Fair team, I conceptualized a dairy farm scene that showcased local agriculture and dairy themes like “Choose PA Dairy” and “Goodness That Matters.” I designed all of the vector art, ensuring every element — from barns and tractors to cows and milk bottles — was ready for crisp, print-ready reproduction. Because the mural was to be printed on three separate whiteboards, I carefully mapped out spacing and composition so the design would align seamlessly once installed.

Rather than a collection of separate icons, the mural reads as a single, connected farm landscape so visitors can follow the story of dairy from field to table. Rolling pastures, a red barn, grazing cows, a tractor, and milk bottles sit together in one scene, while the 'Choose PA Dairy' and 'Goodness That Matters' messages tie the artwork to Pennsylvania's dairy industry and the Ag Education Center's teaching goals.

Because visitors of every age would be coloring directly on the wall, line weight was one of the most important design decisions. I used bold, consistent outlines for major shapes so they stay readable from across the exhibit and give younger visitors clear areas to fill, with slightly lighter interior lines for details like cow markings and barn boards. Spaces were kept large enough to color comfortably, and fine detail was avoided where it would be lost or frustrating to fill.

Each motif was chosen for instant recognition: Holstein-style cows, milk cans and bottles, barns and silos, and farm equipment. Simple, friendly illustration keeps the subject approachable for children while still representing the real work behind Pennsylvania dairy farming.

All artwork was built as clean vector files in Illustrator so it could be enlarged to wall scale without losing sharpness. Since the mural was printed across three separate whiteboards, I divided the composition so key elements wouldn't break awkwardly at the seams, aligned lines across each panel edge, and supplied print-ready files sized to the final boards for a seamless physical installation.

The completed mural became a centerpiece of the Ag Education Center, offering both a learning opportunity and a hands-on activity for visitors. It combined education, creativity, and community engagement — transforming a plain wall into a memorable, interactive experience at the York Fair.