Andersonville Midsommarfest
2017 Logo
The Andersonville Chamber of Commerce services the Andersonville neighborhood in Chicago. Their tagline is "A quaint village in the middle of a world class city." Since 2011, I have worked with them each year on developing their marketing materials for their summer festival, Midsommarfest, one of the most popular in the city. This includes posters, postcards, t-shirt designs, stickers, “day-of” event signage, print and web ads, stage banners, t-shirts, social media graphics and website graphics.
Background and description
The yearly event is held in June so planning starts in January. The goal is to have a majority of the deliverables completed by May. The nature of the type of event does allow for “last-minute” deliverables such as ad buys in publications and a few print materials. This is due to finalizing the event schedule and sponsor commitments.
The Problem
Each year the summer festival warrants a new “look and feel” to attract new visitors and most importantly keep returning visitors engaged.
The Goal
The main goal of these deliverables is to deliver information to the public about the event in an engaging way.
The Process
The general process for any type of design is to gather the requirements from the client, research the subject, sketch ideas, flesh out those ideas online, finalize 2-3 designs, present to the client and go through the iteration process until a final design is chosen.
LOGOS
Each year I would create a new logo to go along with all of the updated marketing materials. In 2016 it was decided to create a logo to use going forward year after year and update slightly with color and design, but maintain the integral structure.
Below are the initial design comps submitted for review. The colors are meant to indicate fun and summer feelings. I also love playing around with type when creating logos. Out of the first round of designs, it was decided to go with the design with the large dala horse which is very symbolic of the neighborhood's Swedish heritage.
The second round of revisions included the chosen layout but with different design treatments. I chose to use different fonts and colors for variety. The last logo was the chosen one due to its relative simplicity and versatility.
POSTERS
Below are a few options for the poster design which will dictate the "look and feel" of the remaining deliverables. I always try to go for a fun and summer feel with these designs. For the first one, I was going for an environmental and atmospheric feeling with the blue representing the sky and the green representing grass. The second one was meant to evoke a more childlike and innocent feeling of eating ice cream in the summertime. The last poster, which was the chosen one, was meant to put the focus on the people who make up the festival.
PROMOTIONAL BEER POSTCARD AND TICKET
These postcards are used to encourage potential customers to shop locally in Andersonville specifically. With a receipt, a patron is traded a ticket at the festival to redeem for a free beer. The postcards are given to local businesses to put in their stores.
PRINT ADS
Below are a few of the print ads created for local publications which include, Windy City Times, Boi Magazine, Red Eye and CTA Bus Tailights. A few digital ads and banner ads were also created.
SIGNAGE
Below is a gate sign that greets patrons of the festival before they enter. It's used to encourage people to donate the full suggested amount. This was meant to visually represent what $10 supported in the neighborhood. In addition to the gate sign, there were a few 10' x 3' printed banners hung around the neighborhood to promote the event.
TSHIRT AND STICKER
The t-shirt was designed for staff and volunteers to wear during the event. The design is very minimal and meant to mimic a stripped down logo. The sticker was handed out to patrons to promote neighborhood pride. Like the tshirt design, the simpler, the better.
WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Several digital graphics are created including a slider image for the Chamber homepage, a small banner image for the internal page of the site, an image for the email newsletter. Social media images are also created for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PAST ANDERSONVILLE MIDSOMMARFEST MARKETING
Below are the marketing materials I have created for Midsommarfest from 2011 - 2015.
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011