The largest celebration of women in music
Based in Wilmington Delaware, the Ladybug Music Festival is all about representing female local musicians. Like the festival, the brochure had to ditch stereotypical ‘girly’ characteristics and represent strength and success.
The brochure’s objective was to promote and inform the public about the festival and gain appreciation for female artists. The brochure included the lineup, featured artists, history about the festival, and festival maps. The weekend-long festival featured many big talents, including guests that had played at the festival in previous years and had risen in the music industry. Placed in the middle of the city of Wilmington, the concept for the brochure was inspired by the grunge and artistic expression throughout the Wilmington. Many artists start their career off in a city. Weather it’s playing on the sidewalk, in a local bar, or on a stage at a festival, there’s often maybe obstacles, but among this group of artists, they have proved their strength, hardiness, and true grit to get to play on stage yet again.
In the past, the traditional ‘rock and roll’ aesthetic has been heavily applied to male artists. The halftone photos in the brochure creates a slight nod to posters and photos of bands and musicians made with older printing methods. The thematic treatment of the design was inspired by Roller derbies, full of proud and strong females who aren’t afraid to make some noise. In an effort to embrace all types of women, the color palette consisted of a light tan, pale pink, deep magenta, black, light blue and dark blue. The sturdy, bold, sans serif, paired with an italic, high contrast, serif, represented the range of not only women but music and personality throughout the festival.
The festival’s contribution to the music industry and the appreciation of women musicians called for a sophisticated design that could not be missed. The sturdy, six page, accordion brochure consisted of the festival lineup and featured artists on one side, and the festival’s history, information, and maps on the back. While calling attention to the many struggles in the music industry for women, the festival was still a celebration, so the energetic personality throughout the design was crucial to show the positivity emanated from this event.
