Rouge Fest
This semester, one of my main course classes is Pre-Press Printing Technique, where we are learning different techniques for using printers as well as how to prep a design when sending it off to a print servicer. For our first project, we were tasked with designing a brochure that promotes any object of our choosing.
As an avid fan of festivals and concerts, I decided to create a music festival based in Baton Rouge called ‘Rouge Fest.’ Since Louisiana’s larger music festivals like BUKU and Voodoo Fest have gone on hiatus, I was driven to create this project to revitalize the festival culture in Louisiana for former and newer music fans who either miss it or never had a chance to attend these local festivals. I fall into the category of a music fan who never got to experience BUKU or Voodoo Fest sadly, as I was still in high school when they were running and my parents are cheap and slightly strict so I never even bothered asking if I could go. Of course, my older sister is on the other side of the coin, as I’ve heard her talk about the times she and her friends went and saw many of their favorite artists at the time, like Hozier (who I did see at Lollapalooza but they saw him when he had just released Wasteland, Baby! which I was OBSESSED with during that time), Tame Impala, Glass Animals, and Post Malone (again I’m especially jealous as he had performed at Voodoo in 2019 and JUST released Hollywood’s Bleeding which is still to this day my favorite album from him). Needless to say, I loved living vicariously through this project while working on it, even though I’m just gaslighting myself into believing it could be real.
Another goal I aimed for was to draw people from around the world to this festival. Louisiana has a rich music culture and history, with jazz originating in New Orleans and as well as zydeco and swamp pop music being created in Louisiana as well. So, of course, you can’t have a music festival in Louisiana without including Louisiana musicians. Many of the bands I’ve included I’ve seen throughout my time living here and listening to live music (some are even my friend’s bands and solo projects)! I also created a poll on my Instagram to see what bands my friends thought I should include and also got advice from one of the local companies I work with, Baton Rouge Music Studios. Additionally, since the goal is to draw people from around the world in, I added big-name musicians as the main headliners to entice a larger audience. That way various people will be drawn to visit the festival, enjoy live music, and get a taste of Louisiana’s culture.
For the visuals of the project, I included vibrant and colorful branding to reflect the energetic and exciting feelings of attending music festivals while I also created mainly geometric graphics to emulate the visuals of jazz designs and posters. Now if only this music festival would be a real event so I wouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars going to Lollapalooza or Austin City Limits to enjoy my favorite artists…
