Open Music Festival
Branding | Prototyping | UX
In HCDE 308 (Visual Communication in Human Centered Design and Engineering), I created a faux music festival. I oversaw the creative direction of the event, created an app prototype for festivalgoers, and underwent an iterative design process.
The result is Open, an ethereal and playful feeling R&B and pop music festival where Seattlelites can connect with their local community. Throughout this project I learned how to prioritize stakeholder and user needs while also advocating for my own design choices.
View the full case study here.
Roles
Product Designer
UI/UX Designer
UX Researcher
Tools
Figma
Procreate
Loom
Timeframe
Winter 2025
11 weeks
Context
A festival at the University of Washington
During Winter 2025 I took Visual Communication in Human Centered Design and Engineering, where I was tasked with imagining a mock festival held on the University of Washington campus. I decided to create an R&B and pop festival since I have attended many live music events before.
Design Question
How might we design a music festival to stand out from others?
Research
Forming a unique identity for an R&B and pop music festival
Competitive Analysis
I compared music festivals with similar genres to mine to identify their unique selling points and other features such as pricing and target audience.
Customer Personas
To explore potential audiences along with their resources, motivations, and goals, I created three personas. Here’s one of them, Jake.
Core Value Proposition and Unique Selling Point
Through my research, I formed a core value proposition and unique selling point to stand out from the competition.
Core Value Proposition
Open Music Festival is an alternative R&B & pop festival on the University of Washington campus. For Seattle music lovers and students, who want to enjoy their favorite artists and discover emerging artists, my idea provides three days of immersive performances, activities, and fun.
Unique Selling Point
Unlike other multi-genre music festivals, my idea provides a sense of community through interactive art installations designed to drive connection and a Makers Market that features local Seattle artists, designers, and creators.
Design
Creating a brand image for the festival
Moodboard
In order to determine a look and feel for Open, I found inspiration that aligned with the overall mood I wanted to evoke.
Design System
After peer critique, this is my final typography, color scheme, and logo for the music festival.
Poster, Wayfinding, and Signage
I implemented this design system in informational materials such as the festival lineup, map, and signage.
2 ft
7 ft
Prototype
Designing an intuitive merchandise flow
A part of this project was creating a mobile app prototype where users can buy merchandise. This is a culmination of my research and design system.
User Flow
An insight I gained from this flow is that the user often loops back to a previous screen and that some merchandise items may need the user to select colors and sizes. These were factors that I needed to consider in my wireframing and prototyping.
Wireframes
This was my initial wireframe design for a merchandising flow. I made four screens — a homepage, merchandise page, an individual merchandise items page, and a cart summary page.
After user testing, I received feedback and insights that I then implemented in my second iteration.
Here are changes I made:
Removed search feature and added a simple filter system since I only have six merchandise items.
Improved clarity by removing the cart icon and using a bag icon throughout the design for consistency.
Made the navigation bar more intuitive by rearranging the icons so the home button is at the beginning.
Added a size guide after the person I conducted usability testing with said they don’t like shopping online for clothing because most of the time they are unsure of the size and fit.
Final Prototype
Using insights from the competitive analysis, customer journey, and user testing combined with the brand image I created, I designed a mobile prototype for Open Festival. This prototype incorporates my USP through a community section where users can learn more about the Makers Market and the interactive art installations (that are designed to drive connection and build a stronger Seattle community).
This interface shows the merchandising flow that I improved from iteration to iteration through with feedback I got from user testing and critique sessions.
Reflection
Work around obstacles or advocate
To practice working with constraints, my instructor gave us a list of words to choose from that would be our festival name. I was among the last to choose a word, leaving me without any of my top choices. However, I adapted to the challenge and developed a logo and brand look that fit both the name of the festival (Open) and the original mood I wanted to go for. In retrospect, I appreciated these constraints, as they pushed me to think creatively and ultimately helped me grow as a designer.
At the same time, I learned the importance of advocating for myself. The initial festival venues assigned to me—Parrington Lawn, 15th Ave NE, and NE 42nd St.—did not align with the floral and ethereal aesthetic I envisioned for the event. To request a location change, I wrote a proposal to my Director (HCDE 308 Instructor), outlining my reasoning. This experience reinforced the importance of standing by my design decisions and effectively communicating their value.