An integration of the full name Holland Festival and the abbreviation HF all rolled up into one graphic language. Instantly recognizable for people who are familiar with the festival while at the same time it also appeals to the new audience that Holland Festival is aiming for.
By making a very specific typeface we were able to connect the logo, the full name and the program. It works across all mediums, from posters to city-dressing and web.
inspiration (for 2016) For the 2016 edition, artistic director Ruth Mackenzie chose to include productions from countries like the Ukraine, Syria, Russia, China and Mali. Done so in response to the turbulence, upheaval and outright violence that we all witnessed dominating the news. We used this inclusive and outward vision to build further on the ligature (combination of two letters into one form) and stencil HF logo we designed in 2015. We extended the same technique by adapting it to the names of the countries that got represented in the festival.
Alongside the HF of Holland Festival there is an ML for Mali, for example, and a UA for the Ukraine. For the poster campaign the HF is centered with the country abbreviations scattered around at a distance from the center that corresponds to that countries’ geographical distance from the Netherlands. The colours of these abbreviations correspond to the colours of the country’s national flags.
how it got done In collaboration with Bold Monday, we designed a new stencil typeface with many ligatures. The result was an instantly recognizable Holland Festival identity that looks open, transparent, and international.
client profile Since 1947 the Holland Festival is the leading international performing arts festival in the Netherlands. The festival offers a broad scope of international performing arts with a mix of performances and concerts from all corners of the world. The festival features established names as well as new talent, showing innovation in art and exploring new types of venue and forms of theatre.
because art is an unmistakable and unmissable part of life
– mission statement Holland Festival