Open Frequency
I turn a repeated wave into a flexible festival identity that holds many voices within one recognizable signal.
Independent creative direction, identity & campaign study
Original static design specimens · illustrative content · not a shipped product
01 / Idea, problem & leadership
What needed to change.
- My role
- Independent creative direction, identity & campaign study
- Disciplines
- Brand · Motion · Play
The central idea
My self-written festival brief balances expressive variation with the practical structure of a changing program.
- Designed for
- I imagine visitors discovering music, performance and moving image, alongside those attending a particular event. This audience is unvalidated.
- Scope of this study
- Independent creative direction · Festival identity · Program hierarchy · Motion-system proposal
- What is shown
- I present one poster scene and original SVG identity and campaign boards. These demonstrate a fictional event system, not a commission, actual program, completed festival or attendance result.
Make room for different voices
I want a festival identity to introduce unfamiliar work, distinguish events and help visitors find what comes next. My brief asks how much variation a system can accept before the festival disappears. I fix the name, colour relationships and underlying wave rule, then let scale, crop and rhythm respond to each format.
02 / Thinking, evidence & concepts
Making the thinking visible.
These visual studies explore a design hypothesis. No interviews, usability tests or commercial outcomes are claimed.
Build a graphic language that behaves
I use repeated curves that can expand, compress and cross a frame. Oversized type announces the festival; a consistently aligned secondary layer explains its program structure. Vermilion supplies street-facing presence, while ivory gives longer text room. In planned motion, the wave becomes a transition device, extending the identity's existing logic instead of adding animation as a separate effect.
03 / Solidified direction
A public signal with many voices
I keep the name and information anchors stable while allowing a repeated wave and emphatic typography to vary. The system must accommodate different kinds of work without losing the festival itself. A protected program zone is therefore as important as the expressive poster gesture.
Current art-direction rationale · developed for this portfolio revision, October 2026.
Creative direction / Decisions
The choices behind the work.
Create variation from one rule
I vary wave spacing, scale and crop instead of inventing a new motif for every format. Coherence becomes easier to maintain, but templates need limits so expressive variation does not become visual noise.
Protect the information layer
I reserve clear zones for program text rather than placing every detail inside the waves. Some layouts lose graphic spectacle, but the hierarchy can accommodate changing information without rebuilding the identity.
Keep the disciplines connected
I distinguish music, performance and moving image through written labels within a shared system. This keeps the festival visible as one event, while asking typography to carry more of the organisational work.
04 / Final result & next test
A coherent concept. An honest next step.
The poster scene and original identity and application boards present a fictional multidisciplinary festival system. They do not document an actual event, confirmed program, commissioned identity or attendance outcome.
Challenge it with practical formats
I would test a dense timetable, small mobile listing and distant wayfinding sign before treating this as a complete event system. My evaluation would ask whether people can locate categories and essential access information without decoding the graphics. Contrast, motion sensitivity and thin-line pattern behaviour need review. No audience research, live-event application or measured results are claimed.
Motion treatments and further production remain planned. The static work above is the current deliverable.
Credits & context
Self-initiated spec work. Original identity and campaign compositions developed for this portfolio. The concept imagery does not document a real product launch, client commission, event or property.
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