Alex DeArmond:
When we were developing the identity for this summer’s Rock the Garden we were interested in making a mark that would become a ubiquitous image—an abstract symbol that, through repetition and a range of applications, would take on a life of its own, embodying this iconic summer event in an unexpected way.
The design of the mark is intentionally obscure and a little enigmatic: a monolithic form that distorts itself and confuses the eye. This effect is created by the logo’s morphing “fill” of overlying stripes and dots—internal elements that shift and turn, creating a unique combination of moire patterns and visual noise for every application. In certain iterations it appears that the logo is destroying itself, in others the forms suggest overlapping floral patterns. This kind of primal essence—sometimes pretty, sometimes violent—added to the strangeness of the identity.
Applications included t-shirts, advertisements, ticket stock, banners, and ID tags. We proposed a color system that was completely open, the only requirement being that the colors should vibrate, adding to the optical illusion quality of the materials. For the commemorative posters we took the system one step further, overlaying the mark onto pre-existing posters and patterned paper stocks. The effect becomes like a ghost trace of the event, creating new juxtapositions of image and form.
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