McDowell Mountain
Music Festival

The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is probably my favorite music festival in Arizona, if not one of my favorites in the region. The level of underground talent they’ve consistently brought to the valley is unmatched by any other festival. Now in it’s 10th year, this non-profit company has garnered a large following and puts on an incredible 3-day festival which includes camping, local and national bands, a drum circle and great food and beer…all in a cozy setting while enjoying perfect weather on your blanket laid out on the grass. I was fortunate to work with the MMMF team in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2008, when their marketing team approached me, they had already locked down the identity and mostly needed production help and I gladly took on the work. Then, in 2009, and 2010, I was awarded the design work for the entire festival. It was pretty much a dream project. I hand-drew both logos and many of the visual elements before digitizing them. I worked on everything from the logo to lanyards, posters, programs, the website, banner ads, outdoor advertising, bus-wraps, the festival map, and each year I was asked to do a special t-shirt to be sold at the event apart from the regular shirts.

The festival has evolved and now they use a consistent identity each year instead of changing it up each year, which saves a lot of time and money, but I still kind of miss the one-off theme that each year would surprise you with. Each year, I would hand-draw several ideas which wouldn’t make the cutting room floor. I decided to keep these ideas and show them here in my portfolio, because although they weren’t picked, I think they should have been and I’m really happy with how they turned out. If you’ve never been to this festival, I highly recommend it. All of the proceeds to go charity and they always bring new talent, as well as a few great headliners, nationally and locally.