During my third and final year of University, we were tasked with a Final Major Project (FMP) to create something that would show off all of our talents as a designer and represent the direction we wanted our careers to go once we had graduated.
My passion had always been music and to be a designer for the music industry, therefore I decided that I was going to design my own music festival and all of the accompanying material that would go with that. However at the time of my FMP covid-19 was rife and we were studying from home, so the idea of a music festival seemed almost far-fetched. Therefore I decided to adapt the festival to the times we were living in and make it completely digital.
This is when I created UPLINK
The idea of a totally digital music festival was not out of the question. Tomorrowland, a music festival usually held in Belgium annually, had been forced to adapt and had created a completely virtual festival complete with stages and activities for festival-goers to participate in. I wanted my festival to stand out in some way though, so I decided that the theme of the event would be for the festival to be held by hacking into a government covid-19 broadcast and broadcasting the music to the nation. The hacker theme can clearly be seen in the logo and material I produced, using digital language, imagery and a green and black colour scheme reminiscent of the matrix franchise, which obviously has connotations of hacking and digital landscapes.
The name uplink came from a few places.
1) It sounds very digital, it is a word normally used to describe something digital and by definition means a connection to a satellite or digital device
2) It gives the feeling of being connected and together even when physically apart, which during covid-19 was the thing everyone was craving, and was the idea I was trying to get across with the festival as a whole
To announce the launch of the festival via social media and digital channels I created a launch video to feature some of the lineup.
This video is still to this day one of the most challenging things I have created and I think it showcases a lot of my talents not only as a designer but in creating motion graphics as well. I had to learn countless new things to be able to pull this video off the way I had envisioned in my head and I am extremely pleased that I was able to realise the vision I had and create something that was not only technically impressive but visually appealing and extremely professional.
To accompany the video I created a poster version of the lineup that would be used as a print medium to build anticipation for the festival. I created 2 versions of the poster, one with the lineup in full and one just including the larger acts along with a few logo icons from the bands.
Once again I was extremely pleased with the outcome of these posters and I think that they worked extremely well when paired with the motion graphic aspect of the video which would be used digitally rather than physically as these would.
To celebrate the three headline acts I created a series of images which featured the headlines interacting with the logo design and overlaid with the festival's green grid pattern. I think these designs worked extremely well and show my capability to produce a design that is flexible in its use as well as being able to manipulate imagery in a way that fits with branding.
As my idea developed my tutors were concerned about how the feasibility of my idea was going to be explained,
and the solution I had to this problem was to incorporate a sponsor for the festival.
and the solution I had to this problem was to incorporate a sponsor for the festival.
The sponsor that I chose for the project was O2 and I don't think there was a more perfect sponsor to pair with the idea that I had created.
O2 is predominantly a high street retailer that sells phones and other digital devices but they have also been massive supporters of the music industry for over 10 years, sponsoring and helping to keep iconic venues in business and supporting some of the biggest acts across the country and the world.
Its sponsorship deal with the millennium dome or O2 arena in London is iconic in British music but it is not only this large venue it has supported, many smaller venues across the country including the 5 I featured above have benefitted from O2's sponsorship deal and that in turn has created a thriving British music scene that is renowned the world over.
O2 is predominantly a high street retailer that sells phones and other digital devices but they have also been massive supporters of the music industry for over 10 years, sponsoring and helping to keep iconic venues in business and supporting some of the biggest acts across the country and the world.
Its sponsorship deal with the millennium dome or O2 arena in London is iconic in British music but it is not only this large venue it has supported, many smaller venues across the country including the 5 I featured above have benefitted from O2's sponsorship deal and that in turn has created a thriving British music scene that is renowned the world over.
Since I chose O2 as a sponsor I decided that the event would now be held to raise money for venues that were struggling financially due to
being closed for such a long time during the covid-19 pandemic. This led to me selecting 5 iconic venues from across the country,
The o2 Brixton Academy, The o2 Academy Liverpool, The o2 Apollo Manchester, The o2 Academy Glasgow and The o2 Academy Newcastle.
being closed for such a long time during the covid-19 pandemic. This led to me selecting 5 iconic venues from across the country,
The o2 Brixton Academy, The o2 Academy Liverpool, The o2 Apollo Manchester, The o2 Academy Glasgow and The o2 Academy Newcastle.
The event would be broadcast live with the artists performing inside some of these classic venues to raise funds for renovation, improvement and support
with other funds being distributed to other venues in need.
with other funds being distributed to other venues in need.
I also created social media and website mockups to flesh the event out a little bit and show how. would be promoting the event online. The website also gives an idea of the prices people would pay for access to the event.
I also mocked up merchandise people could purchase to raise more funds for the event
(Including the mandatory covid-19 facemask)
(Including the mandatory covid-19 facemask)
Overall this project was a great success. I created some of the best design work that I have so far, learned how to use motion graphics more effectively, learned a lot about design in the music industry and finally had an amazing time being able to think of the concept and bring it to life over the time I worked on it.
Completing an FMP during a pandemic has probably never been done before, so none of my tutors really knew what to expect and neither did I, but I think I definitely made the best of a bad situation and the fact that I got a 1st on this module makes me extremely proud and I think shows my resilience and determination in the face of adversity.
