For the love of Festival Design

Kayle Doan
Jul 23
3 min read

Updated: Aug 1

Festival Design | Greenville, SC | Kaleidoscopic Creative | Crowd at outdoor concert evening at Magnolia Stage, colorful lights, musicians performing. Painted backdrop with sun design, vibrant atmosphere. — Stage Scrim design for the second stage at Riverfront Revival 2024 by Kaleidoscopic Creative.

Have you ever been to a festival and fallen in love with the art?

The merch booth, the signage, the stage scrims—the little visual details that immerse you in the spirit of the experience. It’s easy to overlook, but for some of us, those details are everything. If you’ve never noticed before—or if you have and wondered what happens behind the scenes—I’m here to give you a little sneak peek.

Photo Credits: Bain Stewart Media

At 26 years old, I had never even been to a concert. Growing up as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, my summers were spent helping my parents at the nail salon, not screaming lyrics in a crowd of strangers. Live music culture just wasn’t on my radar. But everything changed when I found my dream job I didn't even know existed. That’s when I discovered not just the beauty of live music, but the magic of branding it.

As Lead Designer at Kaleidoscopic Creative, I now have the incredible privilege of designing festivals from the ground up. One in particular holds a special place in my heart: Riverfront Revival. Since its inception, our team has been entrusted with building the festival’s identity from the ground up—breathing life into it with color, texture, emotion, and type.

Working closely with my creative partner, the ever-talented Kyndall Cooper (owner, operator, illustrator, of Kaleidoscopic Creative and all-around badass), we built the world of Riverfront Revival together. It starts from her creative fingertips—with a vision and illustration— then I get the honor to carry it forward. My job is to expand the art across every aspect of the festival: merchandise, signage, stage banners, stage screen animations, credentials, social media ads, billboards, digital graphics, even the little things like wristbands and pocket guides.

Photo Credits: Bain Stewart Media

Everything you see at a festival has gone through countless hours of intentional design work. We obsess over getting the artist lineups just right on posters. We carefully curate colors to match the season, the vibe, the crowd. We cross-check specs for print ads, coordinate website updates with social drops, and fine-tune files until our eyes go cross eyed.

BTS look at our work in progress for Graphic Design Merch Design Behind the scenes for Riverfront Revival | Greenville, SC based Graphic Designer at Kaleidoscopic Creative. — A behind the scenes look at how messy our merch design creation can really be

It’s a dance of creativity and logistics, of passion and precision—and to see it all come to life under the lights, surrounded by music, people and joy? It’s the kind of magic that makes every revision worth it.

There’s something to be said about having a job you love.

Not just one you enjoy—but one that breathes life into your passions.

A job that reminds you life is more than just clocking in and out.

This journey has taught me to trust my gut, follow my intuition, and believe there’s a place in this world for the way I see things. And to do it all alongside a creative partner who shares that vision? That’s the real dream.