FAIRFAX YOUTH FESTIVAL
The Fairfax Youth Festival is community based initiative that is held annually in the Murray Mallee region, Central Victoria. It was developed to encourage the participation of local community members to participate in, and celebrate the creative arts. The festival consists of two main events. ‘Square Pegged’ - involves members between 12-26, including musicians, singers, actors, or creative artists of any kind. ‘In Full Voice’ is a 500 piece choir that invited people from all demographics to be included.
The main purpose of the Fairfax Youth Festival brief was for a general call out to local community members to engage and participate in the event. The most challenging part of this was that the logo, additional elements and colours had already been developed. The client was seeking a campaign that was based on these resources, was cost effective, and represented their brand. It’s main focus was to reach their target audience, encouraging them to be involved.
The theme of the festival was ‘back to normal’, as people emerged from a post covid lockdown, and started returning to their normal lives. I developed the slogan “It’s not normal to be normal”, as I really wanted to portray a powerful message, particularly targeted to our teen community members. It was designed to challenge self beliefs, and the way people compare to one another. To encourage the audience to realise that our inner dialogues can all feel (at times) we may not be normal, of which of course, is normal! The slogan (hopefully) assisted in communities to overcome their insecurities of performing in front of other people.
The imagery I used for ‘In Full Voice’ were specifically chosen to represent characters (or people) from all walks of life. The Nun, Football Player, Lady Trady and Farmer all have a microphone in their hand. This is to visually communicate that ALL people can participate in this group choir. The additional elements were carefully and thoughtfully placed, as was the logo and predetermined colours used.
The imagery I used for ‘Square Pegged’ needed to reflect it’s title, or a ‘square fitting into a round hole.’ These pictures are all showcasing animals behaving in a slightly ‘different’ way, adding a little humour to the message. These sheep, cats, dog and cow are all behaving far from ‘normal.’
