Designing an Authentic Mexican  Day of the Dead Festival, on Mars, for Gorillaz

Full disclosure, Gorillaz are one of my favorite bands.  As a visual artist, designer, musician, and comic book lover, the animated band touches on a lot of my personal passions and inspirations.  So when Live Nation called and asked me to design a visual festival map to sell the band on bringing their Demon Dayz festival to L.A., I jumped at the chance to work with their team at Eleven Mgmt.  After a few site walks in Pico Rivera and a beautiful site map (very close to what the final one used for the festival) they were sold.

The initial creative direction I was given for the design of that first festival map was “a Gorillaz Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico – if Mexico was on Mars.”  The Pico Rivera Sports Arena & Grounds was the perfect setting for that, and we successfully carried that rich aesthetic throughout the festival design.  In addition to designing the consumer facing “fun” map, I was a creative consultant on the festival layout and decor, and was responsible for designing all festival credentials and onsite signage.