The 10 Days of Amazing! Festival campaign has donned a new, colourful costume for the 2009 National Arts Festival. The Festival’s wardrobe sports a new visual identity and marketing campaign developed by the Festival’s newly appointed advertising agency, the award-winning Ireland/Davenport company based in Johannesburg.
The 10 Days of Amazing! Festival campaign has donned a new, colourful costume for the 2009 National Arts Festival. The Festival’s wardrobe sports a new visual identity and marketing campaign developed by the Festival’s newly appointed advertising agency, the award-winning Ireland/Davenport company based in Johannesburg.
“As the country’s best known and longest running annual celebration of the arts, we were looking for a fresh, modern face for our brand that retained some of the spirit we have nurtured and developed over the years, and to find a way of packaging the whole Festival experience, communicating it’s essence,” Festival CEO Tony Lankester says.
Executive Creative Director of Ireland/
Davenport Philip Ireland says: “The new logo builds on the notion of creativity and expression by featuring two hands and arms entwined, and takes the legacy colours of the Festival – blue and red – into a more modern space.”
“We’ve attempted to capture the artistic soul of the National Arts Festival with the suggestion of drumming and clapping, two activities that are so central to African festivals and celebrations. We feel that this gives the sense of vibrancy, intensity and excitement and highlights the celebratory nature of the Festival,” Ireland added.
According to Festival Director Ismail Mahomed, the event is charting a challenging and exciting era. “The hands on the logo signify our intentions to reach out and grasp newer experiences and demonstrate how we embrace openness and diversity. They also reflect that single moment through which we celebrate our country’s artists–applause.”
The launch of the new visual identity coincides with the launch of the National Arts Festival 2009 10 days of amazing! Festival poster campaign.
Lankester says that the Festival’s new advertising campaign, launched together with the new visual identity, captures the core spirit of the brand promise: “10 Days of Amazing’, describes perfectly the essence of what we aim to create – a breathtaking experience in a bubble of intense emotion for ten days each year. It is a brand promise that we will deliver an amazing experience for performers, who get the opportunity to express themselves freely and openly, and for audiences who get to share in the spinetingling and extraordinary moments these artists create.”
Lankester says that even though the Festival has an influential presence throughout the year with various initiatives related to supporting and developing the arts in South Africa, the brand experience culminates in ten
days in July where audiences can step into the realm of ‘amazing’. “We want to stimulate a new conversation about the National Arts Festival as a brand. People can expect the same excellent experience this year, we’re just signalling a new energy through a modern look and feel,” Lankester said.
