FORM FEST Seattle

FORM FEST is a traveling mini-festival series hosted by FORM, bringing together curated lineups of musicians across cities nationwide. The second installment in 2024 landed in Seattle, featuring a diverse mix of electronic and punk musicians. I was the lead designer and creative director for this event, in charge of marketing, branding, and merchandising.

Given our lineup of artists, I wanted to lean hard into the energy of underground rave culture. I gathered inspiration from home made flyers on astro-bright paper, hand-stapled to telephone poles around the city. The goal was to channel that feeling of rawness while bringing a level of polish that commanded your attention.

Each artist received their own typeface chosen to reflect their sound. The idea being that even a first-time listener, seeing the poster cold, could get a gist of what they would hear at the show. It also gave a heavily type-driven layout the visual interest it needed to hold attention.

The system was built with animation in mind. The spiked circle motifs served as frames for for video content. Simple geometric shapes kept the motion work clean and executable without tons of effects.

A tight, intentional color palette paid practical dividends beyond aesthetics. Limiting the palette reduced complexity in merch production, keeping screen printing costs down while still allowing for impact. The event shirts were multi-color screen prints with UV glow-in-the-dark ink — a detail that landed perfectly in a rave context, rewarding attendees once the lights went down. The merch sold out before the show even started.

The whole show was a smash hit. The venue sold out. The organizers later noted they wished they had booked the larger upstairs stage. The merch sold out too. By every measure, the event was a huge success. I am very happy with how my designs worked in so many different contexts.

By the way, you can watch all the sets on Youtube!