ZooTunes Concert Series
Advertising and visual design for an eclectic summer concert series to raise funds for wildlife conservation
Roles
Visual Design
Advertising
Illustration
Experiential Design
Tools
Procreate
Illustrator
Photoshop
Timeline: 5 weeks
Team: Solo project
-
Woodland Park Zoo’s outdoor ZooTunes concert series takes place over a series of summer evenings each year and has become a staple of the Seattle summertime experience. The concert series features big name musical artists and bands across many music genres including indie, folk, rock, and more. Local food and beer is available for purchase, and attendees can bring picnics. Each summer, events typically draw large crowds and proceeds benefit the Zoo’s animal care and wildlife conservation programs.
For 2024, the concert series needs a marketing campaign that better captures the vibrant feeling of attending the event. The visual style should be unique yet adjacent to the Zoo’s current branding and speak to a demographic that is currently changing due to increased price and changed policy about allowing children to attend for free.
Typically, ZooTunes concert events sell out, but the Zoo would like to continue raising funds to support their conservation efforts, so they need designed items that concert-goers and Zoo visitors would like to buy and keep.
-
I created a vibrant design system that better reflects the idyllic feel of summer evenings outdoors in Seattle at the concerts and works well with the variety of musical styles featured. Gorgeous wildlife illustration reflects the Zoo’s conservation-centered mission. Past design systems are elevated for the new demographic through use of color, expressive type, and stylized animal shapes with more depth. This design is unique but adjacent to the Zoo’s current brand, with compatible colors and messaging.
Additional advertising media and environmental applications extend the design, creating a holistic experience for concert-goers. Posters have artistic value for display beyond simply advertising the event, and the corresponding merch will likewise hold its value over time for the target audience. Merch items can be sold year-round in Zoo stores and at events as well as at the concerts.
Design
Typography
Color
Applied Design
Process
-
![collage of zootunes advertisements over the last 15 years]()
1. Research
I started this project by researching visual design that the BECU ZooTunes concert series in the past. I discovered that, as the concert series has become more popular over time, the branding has increased in expressiveness and depth, but it continues to retain a somewhat corporate feel, which is not a match for the concert experience. I also noted that animal graphics and the Zoo’s signature teal, orange, and lime green are key brand expressions that should be kept in the final product.
-
![collage of images of summer and zootunes concerts and brainstorm mind map of words related to the concerts]()
2. Sensory Brainstorming
To capture the experience of being at the concerts, I created a mind map and visual reference board based on the 5 senses including actual photographs and experiences from the event. What is it like to listen to music outdoors on a beautiful Seattle summer evening?
-
![collection of vibrant illustrations and text featuring animals, nature images, people, music, and plants]()
3. Mood Board
To push the concept further, I created a mood board to guide the aristic direction for color, illustration, and type. I wanted to capture a visual aesthetic that would be a logical elevation of the existing branding while also capturing the idyllic and carefree feelings of summertime and a joyful connection to nature.
-
![24 small pencil sketches]()
4. Sketches
Based on the mood board, I created a series of small sketches to test different ideas for the concept and composition of the poster. Elements from each of the three starred sketches contributed to the final poster design.
