My approach towards the Freedom Festival rebrand
I think the main problem that the current website has is that it lacks engagement and interactivity with the viewer. To overcome this I believe the website needs to look more artistically dynamic as the current design doesn’t represent the innovative, diverse performances that they advertise on the page. It also doesn’t seem to highlight the depth and grittiness that hull encompasses as there is quite a large disconnect between what they’re promoting and what design choices they have made.
For example, the landing page features a big main header with rotating videos layered behind the “Freedom” title. The screenshots of the background video display quite how dark and almost menacing the festival appears to be with lots of fire iconography, big gatherings of visitors and people holding up signs that almost give off the impression they are attending a political protest. This is completely juxtaposed by the bold typography in front of it that looks like children’s playing blocks stacked on top of one another giving a very disjointed view to the public of what ideology and branding the festival are trying to align themselves with.
I also included footage from the festival that was used on a promotional video which further demonstrates the intense and quite scary performances that could be found there whilst also layering foreboding music on top of it.
By advertising the Freedom Festival as a child friendly environment and almost solely towards the demographic of young kids through the bright colours and joyful character of the website, they would surely have a big shock upon seeing what performances and acts do actually take place there. To improve this and give off a more accurate impression of the event I will include some of the harsh iconography found in the videos and include it as illustrative images around the website to reinforce what they ae about whilst also make it look more artistically appealing.
Moodboards
Here I designed two moodboards that I thought would give the festival an effective rebrand and improve their current aesthetic. At the moment the festivals branding is recognisable but upon first glance it doesn’t promote what you initially might think it would be due to its youthful and playful design. I believe this spreads the wrong message about the festival and doesn’t accurately portray their goals.
I instead opted for a more gritty-esque design that would make the website appear more appropriate for the content that it was promoting. I used an overall colour scheme of reds and oranges to reflect the use of fire in a lot of performances at the festival as well as iconic imagery found at the festival such as masks, musical instruments, straw statues etc.
Fundamental Changes
Through the changes in the colour palate as well as the layout of the page my goal is to re-establish the Freedom Festival as a whole and include more mature artistic choices to target older demographics as well as still making it inclusive for a younger target audience. This is important as the festival caters well to families and when looking to buy the tickets it will most likely be adults that will purchase them.
I will also include a much clearer mission statement on the website that is easier to find than it currently is in order to inform visitors beforehand what they should expect and what the whole campaign is about, as well as making the “about us” page considerably more in-depth.
To increase engagement and interactivity within the website I may consider including a column with a short quiz inside it that can examine the viewers interests and put together a short itinerary for them of different events that happen within the freedom festival, based on what answers they had inputted. This can eliminate the process of deciding what to do as a visitor who leads busy lives and may be overwhelmed by the amount of stuff going on.
References:
- Freedom Festival (2023) Freedom Festival Arts Trust. Available online: https://www.freedomfestival.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAuqKqBhDxARIsAFZELmL-l5rrtkpQa11BAdPpMoA1ed9I6JmsdwNmsU51sUFUMr4baxrjWCEaAvREEALw_wcB [Accessed 04/11/23]
- orrick media (2023) Freedom festival 2023 day 1 highlights video [Video]. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7bgM71eZIQ [Accessed 06/11/23]