The Governors Ball Music Festival

Repeat client and friend of the studio Gov Ball hit us up for the third time–to develop the identity, design system, posters and animations for the 2019 festival. As always, we were excited for the project and (almost more) excited about those sweet VIP tickets they send our way.

This year, after exploring many different avenues, we proposed a pretty great conceptual direction: one we call “90s Glitch”. A few things we love about this idea: it’s nostalgic–pulling visual references and inspiration from a simpler time. It’s flexible–everything form VCR typography, to TV scan lines can be sprinkled into the system. It’s relevant to the audience of Gov Ball–while we’re a little older than 90s kids ourselves, the core demographic of Gov Ball festival goers were born and raised in that decade–and it holds a special place in their hearts.

For the design system itself, a few rad things are happening here. First off, we’re using type in a cool way. The Governors Ball wordmark is strong, loud, and impactful. It’s also vertical–which surprisingly is something very few festivals ever do with their posters. Our core brand typography is also paired with a secondary typeface, one you might recognize from an old VCR interface. The color palette pulls from a vaporware aesthetic, using dreamy gradients and punchy cross-processed images. Lastly, we layer in a level of 90s glitch–scan lines, old wavy tv glitches, warped photography and the occasional damaged tape overlay.

Overall it’s a design system that feels fresh, different from other festivals, and relevant to it’s audience. It’s also vastly expandable–stretching across posters, the website, social media, apparel, packaging, wristbands, signage, animations and live stage visuals–all of which were developed here at the studio. Last of all, but perhaps most important, it performed incredibly well. This year over 150,000 festival goes will attend the 3-day festival. The Gov Ball social media content also received a Webby Nomination.