charlotte center city partners - charlotte shout branding - 2019/26 - lead designer - WW
An identity for Charlotte's signature festival of art, music, food and ideas, built on a custom typeface designed to look as loud as it sounds.
The Challenge
Charlotte SHOUT! was returning after a hiatus, and returning bigger: the grand finale of Charlotte's 250th birthday, with nearly two weeks of music, performances, talks, food and art across Uptown. A returning festival had to announce itself. The identity needed to be loud enough to cut through a busy city and flexible enough to carry four very different pillars: ideas, music, food and art.
THE IDEA
What does a shout look like? Sound radiates, so I drew it that way: concentric lines that pulse outward like sound waves, with an O that doubles as a vinyl record. The influences were op art, '70s supergraphics, and years of digging through record crates as a DJ. Then I built it into a full typeface, Shoutface, so the festival could say anything in its own voice.
What does a shout look like? Sound radiates, so I drew it that way: concentric lines that pulse outward like sound waves, with an O that doubles as a vinyl record. The influences were op art, '70s supergraphics, and years of digging through record crates as a DJ. Then I built it into a full typeface, Shoutface, so the festival could say anything in its own voice.
THE SYSTEM
Shoutface, a complete A–Z display typeface. Three logo colorways, a seamless repeat pattern and a five-color palette. A 15-portrait series of Charlotte creatives (musicians, chefs, artists, makers), shot by Justin Smith under my art direction, each framed in the radiating rings. Rolled out across posters, bench ads, stage banners, floor wayfinding, chef hats, tees and social.
Shoutface, a complete A–Z display typeface. Three logo colorways, a seamless repeat pattern and a five-color palette. A 15-portrait series of Charlotte creatives (musicians, chefs, artists, makers), shot by Justin Smith under my art direction, each framed in the radiating rings. Rolled out across posters, bench ads, stage banners, floor wayfinding, chef hats, tees and social.
