Music + Events
Waterfront Blues Festival has kept Portland’s music community bopping since 1988. As a legacy brand, honoring the loyal fanbase who’s been there since day one while welcoming a new generation of music lovers is crucial. We pored over vintage concert posters to update the Waterfront brand in a way that bridges the past and the present to create something recognizable yet refreshed.
We chose Obviously Condensed Bold to take the lead as the header typeface and jam alongside Waterfront Blues Festival’s existing typeface, Boston Black. Obviously Condensed Bold is a versatile typeface with a funky-yet-approachable feel, with no shortage of variations that allowed us to flip it and fit it in puzzle-style.
We collaborated with the incredibly talented designer and illustrator Colby Brooks to create fun and folksy illustrations. With our art direction, Colby took inspiration from traditional woodcuts to craft illustrations that feel updated and groovy.
