As a member of the Topic: Design Group, I was given the opportunity to develop and produce a new brand, website, and campaign for Cincinnati's Midpoint Music Festival.

In addition to creating wordmarks and traditional branding elements for this year’s MPMF campaign, I wanted to create a piece that could remain with the festival beyond 2009 – a Midpoint mascot, so to speak.

Pulling from Cincinnati’s deep history as a riverboat port and first-rate blues mecca, I created Monty, a one-eyed bluesman and riverboat captain.

Monty is designed to live on, regardless of what future campaign themes MPMF adopts.

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The transit influenced aesthetic harkens to a culture that supports and nurtures a thriving independent music scene. It draws you into an environment not dissimilar to new york in the 70’s, when you could hop on the downtown F train and catch a blistering set at any number of clubs in the Bowery. With this campaign, MPMF provides the transit map for Cincinnatians discovering and developing their own thriving scene.

The 2009 Festival, the eighth annual, saw 15,000 music fans descend on downtown Cincinnati; a 30% increase from last year. With 260+ bands on 21 stages the bar has been set high for 2010.