DATE | July 2024
LOCATION | Vic Matthias Shores
ROLE | Art Director
SCOPE | Branding, Experiential, Print, Digital
Transforming Austin’s largest one day event into a family-friendly festival
Background
2024 was the 47th anniversary of the Austin Symphony Orchestra July 4th Concert and Fireworks. For this storied Austin tradition, Forefront Networks had the opportunity to reimagine July 4th as a full-blown festival. Think activities throughout the afternoon, bars, a market, VIP experiences, and multiple concerts leading up to the Symphony and Fireworks.
For the overall July 4th branding, we wanted to feature Texas front and center, along with summer festival-inspired colors, type, and iconography. The process led me to the idea of a Texas boot with a fuse for a spur. Supporting typography is playful and welcoming.
Branding
Onsite Brand Look & Feel
Every year on July 4th, a hundred thousand people descend on Vic Matthias Shores. In order to manage such an influx, onsite branding needed to be clear, concise, and easily naviagble. To that end, I created a visual system that fit into the overall July 4th festival look and feel while allowing guests to easily get where they needed to go.
Bar and Kids Zone
Inside the Long Center
Marketing
Activations Ideas
The new and improved programming and experiences at the July 4th Concert and Fireworks include concepts for custom activations. Just a few of our ideas included a Kids Maze, Misting Oasis, Photo Opps, Tiny Pie Eating Contest, Cowboy Pools, Frozen T-shirt Races, and more.
Grill Yourself: A photo opp where we provide a backdrop of a hot grill for guests to pose against. We’d also supply them with fun grilling props like hot dogs, burgers, and tongs.
The Floor Is Lava Challenge: Every kid knows this game where you imagine the floor is hot lava and you have to avoid it at all costs by climbing your way across furniture. We would create a ground covering that looks like lava and place furniture all over it so the kids could race across it like an obstacle course.
Christmas In July: For this “Christmas in July” scene we’d put Santa on a pair of water skis, a favorite summer pastime in Austin. Guests would then mount their own pair of skis and pose, looking like they’re sharing a day on the water.
