Round-one comps leaned on stock gradient mesh and a generic all-caps sans — nothing tied the art to the high-desert site, the radio-tower skyline, or the dust-red ground Fieldtone actually sits on.
Three separate agency submissions were turned down in the first review — each one a reskin of the same techno-festival template.
Not one comp referenced the actual stage layout, the radio towers, or the ground color photographed on site.
Every piece prints in a single spot color — Pantone 187 dust-red — plus black. No gradients, no CMYK photography, no exceptions.
One condensed grotesk, Owners Wide, carries the entire hierarchy at extreme scale. No secondary display face was allowed into the system.
Poster, ticket, wristband, and social all sit on the same six-column base grid, so nothing gets redesigned from a blank page twice.
Legibility rules for an 18mm wristband and a 12m billboard were written before a single layout began — not fixed afterward.
Six columns, a 24px baseline, and three fixed type steps — display, label, and caption — are the only moves the system allows. Every poster in the series is built from the same master page.
The same grid underlies the handbill, the laminate, and the wayfinding signage, so swapping formats never means starting the layout over.
The six-column module is tested against the largest format (a 12m billboard) and the smallest (an 18mm wristband) before any imagery is chosen.
The radio-tower silhouette is redrawn as a single-weight line icon that still reads cleanly at wristband size.
Pantone 187 is proofed on uncoated stock under actual stage lighting — dusk and floodlight — before the print run is signed off.
The system ships across posters, wristbands, signage, and merch from one shared file, not four separate ones.
The full board approved the round-two rebuild on its first pass
Poster, handbill, wristband, laminate, sign, and tote
Down from 110 hours burned on the rejected round-four concept
Photos of the tower mark outpaced round-one art three to one
| Deliverable | Poster (Offset) | Wristband (Screen) | Wayfinding (Vinyl) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Color Mode | 1 Spot + Black | 1-Color Screen | 2-Color Cut Vinyl |
| Bleed | 5mm | None, Die-Cut | 3mm |
| Minimum Line Weight | 0.5pt | 1.2pt (Mesh Count) | 2pt |
| File Format | Press-Ready PDF/X-4 | Vector EPS | Cut-Ready SVG |
| Proof Required | Wet Proof On Stock | Physical Pull | Site Mock-Up |
| Sign-Off Owner | Studio Lead | Print Vendor | Fabricator |
Every file that leaves the studio carries the same ink story, the same grid, and the same checklist — so the festival looks like one system, not four separate print jobs.
View Full Case StudyCreative Direction: Mara Voss
Design Lead: Studio Halftone
Print Production: Ridgeline Press
Client: Fieldtone Festival