The Wellington Jazz Festival is a weekend-long biennial event attracting some of the world’s greatest Jazz performers to New Zealand’s capital. Moving on from the last event in 2011, the festival identity needed a new energy and spontaneity; a reinvention to better reflect the artistic, bohemian and free-spirited Cuba Quarter in Wellington where the event is held.

Looking to old Blue Note record covers of the past – the loose, haptic, eclectic and bold use of colour, image and textural treatments characterise the syncopated ‘call and response’ nature of Jazz, Soul and Cuban music much like the layering of beats, samples and vocals. Typographically, each poster is filled to the rim with energy and presence. The bespoke hand-rendered system lets the identity sit somewhere between gig/club flyer and polished arts festival aesthetic – finding a middle ground for those ‘in the know’ about Jazz music and your average Wellington punter.

Design pieces within the system included main festival poster, individual artist posters, magazine and newspaper advertisements and website design elements.

 

An Open Lab project, Massey University Wellington.