Hey. Want to work on a design festival?
I got this job through Haily Zaki at Secret Agent, a PR firm specializing in architectural firms. The LA Design Festival is one of Haily’s passion projects, and she’s deeply committed to showcasing the creative scene in Los Angeles. When she asked me to art direct and design the marketing for the festival, I immediately said yes. Over the years, the LA Design Festival grew, eventually passing the torch to a design firm. However, my design and art direction continue to live on in the festival's brand DNA. Below is a progression of the brand through the years, shown through the Festival Guide.
Simple and clean
With razor-thin budgets and limited assets, maintaining a clean and simple design was essential to ensure the different visuals worked cohesively.
THE GUIDE
Aside from the website, the festival guide was the most significant marketing piece for the event, providing attendees with details about all the happenings. With a budget of under $2,000, we kept costs down by designing the guide at 8.5” x 5.5” and opting for digital printing, ensuring we stayed within budget.
THE NEWSPAPER
As the festival expanded, a design agency was brought in, and we collaborated on a newspaper-style guide. The agency suggested using newsprint for cost efficiency, but we discovered that few places still print on newsprint, making it more expensive than the smaller booklets I had previously managed. Despite the higher cost, the final product was impressive. Ultimately, the guide was phased out in favor of listing events on the website—a much better and more eco-friendly solution.
