Nova Music Festival
Visual identity and campaign design for Austin's boldest independent music festival.
- Services
- Brand IdentityArt DirectionMotion DesignPrint & Packaging
The Brief
Nova is an independent music festival in Austin that champions emerging artists across genres. After three years of grassroots growth, they needed a visual identity that matched their ambition — bold enough to stand out on a crowded street poster but flexible enough to work across digital, merch, and wayfinding.
Visual System
We designed a generative visual system built around the concept of "sound made visible." The core identity uses bold, geometric forms that shift and morph — inspired by cymatics (the patterns formed by sound vibrations). No two applications look exactly the same, but they all feel unmistakably Nova.
Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash
The color palette is electric — deep indigo, neon coral, and acid green — designed to pop on both printed posters and glowing screens. The custom display typeface, created in collaboration with a type foundry, adds angular energy to every headline.
Motion & Digital
Kai led the motion design for the festival's social campaign, creating animated assets that brought the generative visual system to life. The animations used audio-reactive techniques, with graphics responding to snippets of performing artists' music.
The festival website featured an interactive poster builder that let fans create their own Nova-inspired artwork, which they could share on social media. Over 12,000 custom posters were generated in the first week.
Environmental Design
We designed the complete festival wayfinding system, stage backdrops, and environmental graphics. The main stage featured a 40-foot LED installation displaying real-time generative visuals synchronized to the live performances.
Impact
Nova 2025 drew 15,000 attendees — a 60% increase from the previous year. The campaign earned a D&AD Pencil and was featured in It's Nice That and Creative Review.
Festival branding usually means a logo and a poster template. Fireflies built us a system that scaled — from the smallest social cut to the forty-foot stage backdrop — without anyone needing to call them at midnight. By the third weekend our team was spinning out new applications without asking permission.
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We'd love to hear about your vision. Let's create something extraordinary together.
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