Les Falles is the most impostant festivity in the city of València, and this year its graphic identity is a tribute to the professionals that make the celebration possible: a recognition and a vindication of tradition, motivated by the situation that these artisans are going through.
Due to the global pandemic situation, the Fallas could not be celebrated on their usual dates and the graphic campaign could not be used as we had designed it. For this reason, the City Council asked us to make an adaptation under the slogan Tornarem (We will return), which would serve as recognition, following the concept of the campaign.
Thanks to the arrival of the vaccine, the responsible governments allowed to celebrate the Fallas as well as other local festivities. The Junta Central Fallera decided to convene them in the first week of September and finally, the official graphic campaign could be seen in the streets of Valencia.
The campaign is made up of six posters: five posters for five professions (fallas artist, pyrotechnic, dressmaker, musician and florist) without which we Valencians would not be able to understand our party par excellence. To these, we add a generic poster that contains the global essence of the campaign, and that extends the recognition to all those professions that, in one way or another, contribute to the celebration of everything related to Fallas. As you can see, the hands of the artisans and artists are the protagonists. For this reason, we oversize the proportions and give those hands the character of a Fallas monument, above the “tools” and the party itself.
On a formal level, the campaign is also a tribute to the graphic tradition. The aesthetic looks to the past, to references of art deco and of a prolific era for the craft of poster design in València. Names like Renau, Monleón, Amérigo, Ballester or Raga opened an aesthetic and formal doors that we want to rescue and claim as our own. This exercise in graphic recovery has included the creation of a bespoke typeface (that falleros and falleres can download for free) inspired by the references of that time, as well as the use of a vibrant color palette and a texture that recalls the style of the classic airbrush. These resources will help make the festivity identity more popular as time goes on and more graphic adaptations are designed.
The graphic image of the Fallas 2021 is, therefore, an exercise in introspection. The moment we are living invites us to celebrate, more than the international nature of the festival, our roots and our ability as a people to give support and love to ourselves and look back to face the future with strength and optimism.
Photography by Josep Gil and fase.
“Meditadora” photo by Mònica Torres.
“Meditadora” photo by Mònica Torres.
