Dark Mofo is a Tasmanian festival that delves into winter solstice rituals, exploring links between ancient and contemporary mythologies, humans and nature, religious and secular traditions, darkness and light, and birth, death and renewal.

The cross has long been established as a recognisable symbol of Dark Mofo but each year it takes on a different form and treatment inline with a sub-theme. In 2019 it was “The Forest”.

The logo treatment manifested as a living entity, evolving and adapting, mimicking the nature of untamed vegetation. The forest represents both the physical place and an archetypal symbol of the journey into the unknown of the human psyche. It was important to allude to both vegetal and anatomical qualities.

The festival campaign featured numerous logo iterations, evolving as it got closer to launch. The website and digital platforms incorporated a screen-saver-like application where the logo started growing, taking over the frame after a period of inaction. Copy from Dante’s Divine Comedy is used as a recurring motif and references a festival artwork by Alfredo Jaar. The supporting typographic approach takes inspiration from fairytales with a blackletter font – TpDuro – customised by TwoPoints.Net. It is paired with ABC Monument Grotesk.

Creative Director: Leigh Carmichael
Brand Identity, Art Director + Design Lead: Megan Perkins
Designer: James Freebairn
Supporting Designers: Bellen Ramos, Beth Gregory, Mel Huang
Lead Developer/Animator: Daniel Reid
Photographers: Rémi Chauvin, Jesse Hunniford