LISTEN OUT

A NEW DESIGN SYSTEM FIT FOR THE FUTURE OF LIVE MUSIC

→ CAMPAIGN STRATEGY
→ CREATIVE DIRECTION
→ BRANDING
→ DESIGN & ANIMATION
→ SOUND
→ CAMPAIGN ROLLOUT

For 2022’s heroic return of music festival Listen Out, we dreamed up the graphics for a new sound machine interface – a visual playground in which we could generate festival posters, social posts, digital ads and website assets. Entropico produced all creative, from campaign strategy and creative direction to design, animation and sound edits.

THE APPROACH

Fitting the forward-thinking ethos of the festival, we wanted our audience to feel as if they’re interacting with a futuristic device on all touch points of the brand. The challenge? Develop fresh new branding for Listen Out while building on the previous years’ visual language.

THE AESTHETIC

Like any hardcore futurist would, we embraced the tech aesthetic in a big way. This meant sampling visual elements from gaming, including HUDs (heads up displays) in our layouts, as well as integrating reactive topographic maps to showcase sound, visually. We paired these elements with simple, editorial-style layouts to balance the chaotic and clean – mirroring the hip hop-meets-rave fashion and culture the festival is known for.

THE SYSTEM

The design system was malleable and expansive, meaning we could create hundreds of assets through the life of the campaign, from digital banners and tour posters, to social video content to announce new lineup additions as the festival dates drew closer.

MOTIFS & MOTION

To capture this year’s (2022) theme of Peace, Love, Unity & Respect, we sampled visual cues from 90s rave culture - an era known for its euphoric dance floor celebrations. The love of rhythm, dance and togetherness is also embedded into Listen Out’s DNA. So, we reimagined the intertwining double helix motif in our key visuals as an homage to this love.

The HUDs and topographic maps were cleverly mapped to react to sound through animation. This meant that our animations had to be timed out to the beat of music prior to working on the animations. We wanted future punters to feel the beat through the animation, giving them a taste of the event’s immersive audio-visual experience.