2021 Minnesota State Fair

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Search-and-Find cover for the Star Tribune

Gus Morais was commissioned by american newspaper Star Tribune to create a double page cover for the special edition about the famous and huge Minnesota State Fair. This was the first edition of the traditional fair after 2 years closed due to the Covid pandemic.

In 2021, by the time of the fair, most of american people had got their vaccine shot and government had started to apply flexibility measures regarding isolation. For this reason, we’ve decide to add people with and without masks.

In the illustration, you can spot many famous rides and locations of the Fair, like the huge slide and the chocolate cookies stand. We’ve used only solid colors, without gradients or shadows, to achieve a solid and colorful result in the newspaper printers.

To bring a special surprise element to the crowded cover, the newspaper was covered with a single page “fake” cover showing a completely empty fair, with its desolated gopher mascot walking alone among the empty rides and stands. When the cover was taken off, the crowded and happy scene of the complete double page cover appears, showing the richness and beauty of people being able to meet and have fun again.

This illustration was made with great art direction and support from Mike Rice and editor Greg Mees from Star Tribune. Also, it was granted an Award of Excellence from 2021 Society for News Design. Hope you have enjoyed reading about this project!