Academic Project
Visual Identity: Strange Sounds From Beyond
Duration
3 Weeks
Tools
Figma, Figjam
Role
Lead Design + Research
Team
Priscilla Mayfield, Justine Clanet, Novia Chung
Context
Strange Sounds From Beyond is an Amsterdam-based music festival and event platform celebrating diverse musical expressions. Showcasing experimental and local artists and rising talents, it blends live acts with DJ sets across genres and cultures.
My Role
I led the art direction and research, developing the core visual and poster designs grounded in the work of our precedent designer, David Carson. Our design approach aimed to reflect the festival’s philosophy: challenging perceptions of the 'strange' and encouraging audiences to explore unfamiliar sounds and artistic creativity.
Design Process
We grounded our visual identity in a clear research process, analyzing the work of David Carson to identify core principles that would reflect the festival's experimental spirit.
Scoping our Research
To inform our visual exploration, we followed a structured process:
Collected a wide range of David Carson’s work
Categorized his designs based on recurring visual techniques-
Identified the underlying design principles
Collection of David Carson’s Works
Categorizing Carson’s Work into Design Principles
Identified Design Principles
After thorough analysis, we narrowed our focus to three key principles that directly guided our art direction and visual explorations:
Typography as Texture & Imagery
Typography acts as a textural element that disrupts hierarchy through scaling or distortion. Manipulating letterforms (stretching, compressing, or fragmenting) controls visual weight, guiding attention and movement within the composition.
Application
We used type to create visual noise and dynamic movement.
Distorting Image for Visual Balance
Creating visual balance by fragmenting and distorting imagery through cropping, rotation, and blur; these manipulations prevent visual dominance, and enhance engagement.
Application
We used image distortion and manipulation to invite viewers to actively engage and reconstruct their own meaning.
Layering Elements for Visual Balance
Overlapping type and images adds semantic depth by creating dynamic relationships, contrasting visual texture and visual tension (Lupton & Philips, 2015).
Application
We used this interplay to energize the composition, preventing stagnation and inviting deeper engagement.
Applying & Exploring Design Principles
Using our identified design qualities and principles, we began exploring graphic poster concepts for Strange Sounds From Beyond, actively reflecting the festival’s philosophy through our visual choices.
Final Art Direction: The Poster
After rounds of iteration and feedback, we landed on our final poster that embodies the festival’s spirit by encouraging engagement and inviting users to actively reconstruct meaning.
Image Grouping
Fonts
Inter Bold
iA Writer Mono S
Colours
Images
Key Visual Components
Typography as Logos
Typography was used to enhance the brand’s identity and ensure the brand move dynamically across different assets.
Colours
The palette was chosen to feel vibrant and slightly unsettling, reflecting the ‘Strange’ philosophy of our client.
Images
Images were fragmented and blurred to create a sense of dynamic movement. Layering was used to ensure no single element is dominant, moving the eye across the composition.
After finalizing our core art direction, I created assets that embodied our design qualities and principles. This process adapted the visual language across various platforms to form a cohesive, recognizable brand across multiple event touch-points.
