There’s a bumper crop of Haight Ashbury Street Fair poster contest entries this year, as the Art Institute reportedly assigned the contest as a project. The Beat is a BIG fan of hand lettering on posters (rather than lazy use of existing fonts), as all the psychedelic titling typefaces we enjoy today started as inspired hand lettering decades ago. Image what new typefaces artists of our generation might dream up if encouraged to forgo fonts in favor of fountain pens.

Regardless of your less-refined poster preferences, check out the entries at the Street Fair website and vote for your favorite at RVCA: 1485 Haight St. (at Ashbury). Voting ends Thursday, April 9, so put down that hash pipe and get to it, Haighters!