Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2023

Brief

Our task was to create an event identity for the 33rd annual Melbourne Queer Film Festival that represents the years theme of “Rewind to Fast Forward”. The theme aimed to symbolise that the queer community has always and always will be part of film with an emphasis on looking to the past to look to the future.

Scope of works

Brand Identity
Campaign Direction
Art Direction
Digital Design
Creative Strategy
Publication Design
Graphic Design
Animation
Environmental/Signage Design
Merch Design

A dimly lit cinema with brown seats faces a large screen displaying “Melbourne Queer Film Festival” surrounded by colourful film stills—much like a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real-time to captivate its audience. Four empty chairs sit in front.

Two smiling people in “Melbourne Queer Film Festival” T-shirts and lanyards stand indoors, posing together. A film poster on the wall highlights a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real-time.

A person wearing glasses speaks at a lectern in front of a large screen displaying

Solution

The brand identity is inspired by a VHS aesthetic to create a feeling of nostalgia and to capture the essence of a bygone era. Overall, the brands use of glitch effects, photo treatment and a bright RGB colour palette aims to reference the past with a contemporary approach. The chosen colour palette comprises of an RGB interpretation of the pride flag which is featured through glitch treatments of the logo and typographic tv screens. We used the shape of 1950’s television screens to house content throughout the many applications of the event to give a feeling of the past. This device was used as a key element throughout the brand allowing us to showcase a multitude of films on a single application highlighting the sheer volume and breadth of queer representation within film. The brand elements were created with the final applications in mind to ensure that the identity would work in both static and film formats.

A Melbourne Queer Festival programme booklet lies in a spotlight on a dark surface. The cover’s colourful, distorted text and images echo the vibrancy of a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real time.

An open magazine features colourful, glitch-style TV screen graphics with text like QUEER, FILM FESTIVAL, and REWIND TO FAST FORWARD—mirroring a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real-time—viewed from above on a light background.

An open magazine on a white surface displays film reviews with images, titles, and descriptions across two black pages—like a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real time—with a person shouting and a field of sunflowers on the right page.

An open magazine on a white surface showcases a photo of two dancers embracing under blue and red lighting, with the title Solo beneath. The scene echoes the artistry of a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real-time.

An open magazine features film descriptions and images; the left page shows two men smiling at each other in a bar, while the right page, like a personalised property marketing campaign adapting in real-time, showcases three film stills with cast details and synopses.

TEAM

Client

Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Branding

Studio White Noise (obviously)

Andreas Pranoto

Mel Yeo

Claudia Boman

Ross Karabelas
Event Photographer

Matto Lucas