The dreams of all festival fans in the Stuttgart metropolitan region and beyond will come true in 2022: A huge electronic event set in lush greenery, right by a lake, against the ultra-bold backdrop of Schloss Monrepos in Ludwigsburg. Dukeland – Into the Green. The internationally renowned Stuttgart club Kowalski and the event series Discotronic bring world-famous DJs and live acts to the epic green avenue at the castle. This is no small rave on Farmer Müller’s field. Big names and high expectations combine to offer guests a perfect event.
No 200 posters from typical flyer printers will suffice for this. What’s needed is smart 360-degree branding that works on multiple levels. Stage time for Hochburg.
Headliner of CI. This project also took us a bit back to our roots — because event design was where we started a long time ago. Back then, there was barely any internet, just flyers and posters. Since then, a few layers have been added, and for Dukeland, we thoroughly thought through and strategically planned all of them.
Festival meets nature meets baroque 2022. And beyond.
It all began with a cloud of keywords — “festival, summer, open air, castle, baroque, nature, green, lake, electronic music” — that needed to be distilled into a completely new, striking brand: instantly clear and, above all, inspiring. Pure rave energy. At the end of the process stood a bold letter logo, which also serves as the brand’s icon: D U K E. Each letter functions as an icon — a signpost, a crest, a flag, and a crown — typical noble elements, stripped down, straightforward, minimalist, yet elegantly transformed for the modern age. The Duke has arrived.
Whether filled, halftoned, blocky, or delicate in use, the design sends clear signals: a high-quality electronic festival. It sticks instantly. A duchy meets the modern, laissez-faire festival world. Impact, collision, all dials turned up like on a mixing console. The developed color palette reinforces this message, symbolizing themes of nature, open air, summer simply into the green. Get out of the house. Especially after the past few years. The monospace type family calmly emphasizes the industrial electronic character. Done: the Dukeland corporate toolkit by Hochburg for all advertising materials, channels, merchandise, and the festival itself.
Dukeland Festival Branding — 2021
Mix & Match: Wie die einzelnen Elemente auf allen Levels fusionieren und funktionieren
Stop: Festival-Time!
Event branding must first and foremost be versatile across various media and platforms to maximally trigger attention and actively boost ticket sales — especially for a big festival. That’s why: bold, wide, and brightly shining — stop the motion, stop the feed, wait, what was that just now? Dukeland, please what? Yeah, awesome, I want to go! This is the primary demand on all tools within the CI setting.
The chassis from the striking logo with its individual letters and color palette can be endlessly remixed for all formats and on both analog and digital surfaces — like a great track, sometimes more aggressive and loud, sometimes softer and more sensitive. In everyday use, the artworks immediately suggest: an electronic open-air festival in nature Images are driven into minds even before actual visuals exist, since Dukeland is just making its debut. Especially for the kickoff festival, clear and quick-to-understand marketing is the fundamental pillar of success.
Matchday: Das Design live at the Festival
The big day. Festival kickoff. The area is buzzing. Guests proudly wear their festival wristbands. Various VIP pass categories are being distributed. Access all areas for Hochburg design. Schloss Monrepos is illuminated with live visuals — D U K E. Merchandise stands offer a variety of merch.
So you can wear the Duke on your back or chest until next year. A signature look far beyond a simple “logo on a shirt” blast. Fashionable. Wearable all year round. The message always: We were there. Monrepos memories. See you in 2023.
Back to Hochburg’s core skills in the end: the digital realm — social media and web. The website we created is Dukeland’s first business card online. Minimal info, no more than necessary; the rest is done by the setup’s elements and icons. Visitors quickly arrive at ticketing. Early bird, straight into the basket. Soon it’s finally happening.
Further focus on Instagram. Hochburg took over concept, content production, and management of the Insta channel, building the channel and fostering direct connection to the potential audience. Custom GIFs call for summer and shuffling. Happy faces at the other end of the screen.
