Big: Culture & Arts Festival is a grassroots, community-built festival rooted in Gainesville. It brings together an eclectic mix of artists, collaborators, and audiences—transforming downtown into a shared space for art, music, and culture.
As the festival scaled, the identity needed to keep up. The goal was to evolve the brand into a system that could stretch across formats, spaces, and platforms without losing what made it feel like Big.
ROLE
Lead Designer & Art Director
Brand Refresh
Design Systems
Web Design + Build
Organic Social Design
Print Design
Environmental Design
UWAY Stage Design
Brand Refresh
We tightened the color palette around universal flag colors and introduced “Big Shapes” as a core visual element, adding tension while creating a flexible framework for communication.
The logo animation carried that idea into motion. The mark enters oversized, shifts between logo states, and exits behind a curtain-like mask.
Big Shapes
The illustrations add a sense of tension, almost like a balloon about to burst, tying back to the “Big” concept. Beyond decoration, they function as a communication device, helping translate the art direction for Bigcaaf 2026 across social, print and environmental applications.
As Bigcaaf expanded across multiple venues and touchpoints, the brand required a more cohesive and scalable system to support both rapid content production and on-the-ground navigation.
Artist Highlight Assets — Production Designer: Paula León
The Big Shapes were used to frame artist press photos while visually identifying the stages they would perform on. Built entirely in Figma using templates and reusable components, the system allowed for efficient, consistent asset creation across the lineup.
Design System
I built a template system and component library to keep asset creation fast and consistent as output increased.
After the initial lineup release, an additional 26 artists were added. The system handled the update without disrupting the visual language or production pace.
Big Landing Page
Website: bigcaf.com
Brand elements were adapted for screen-based layouts with a focus on clarity and navigation. The page functioned as a digital extension of the festival identity.
Organic Social Design
Each piece followed the same underlying structure, adapting only where necessary to highlight content while keeping the Big identity present across every post.
Photo by @elisenormanphotography
Merch Design by @ho.bby, Paula León and @artbyTev
Photo by Jahi Khalfani
Everything You Need to Know
Decrompression at Voltaire
Subtropic Film Festival Screening — Design Assist by Paula León
Set Times & Final Lineup
Big Festival Grounds Map
Print Design
Each application used the same palette, scale, and graphic language established across the broader campaign, adapting to the needs of each format.
From flyers and window vinyl to badges, wristbands, and apparel, the materials helped create a consistent presence before and during the festival.
Illustrations by Amayah Novela