Open City required a refresh of the identity for the 2018 festival that could work alongside its existing logo and our aim was to visually reflect the fact that the organisation is an outlet for 'bold storytelling and the poetic approach to communication of ideas'. To achieve this, we created free-flowing graphic assets from painted overlays and combined these with unconventional layouts which helped to achieve a literal visual link to film as 'art form'. We also introduced a signature, vivid red, spot colour that was able to cut through the noise created by such a vast amount of differing imagery and become an easily recognisable element of the identity. The festival programme was a core piece of the print collateral which we designed to include a mirrored cover which served as an acknowledgement that documentaries in their strictest form reflect the experiences around you. These reflections helped to create a playful, interactive feel as the surface could create obscured or distorted imagery itself and thus provide talking points for attendees of the festival.

Alongside the visual identity, we also designed a new, fully responsive website, programme, flyers, posters, tickets, accreditation, adverts, social media graphics, merchandise and awards laurels & iconography.

Web development by Outpost

Festival photography by Andrew Northrop, Udall Evans, Esther Zheng, Danielius Gedvilas & Hannah Binney.