(Project 02 / 10)
Culture — Art Direction
London — 2026
Nocturne
Three nights of music, lit by a single source.
(Overview)
Nocturne is a winter music festival held across three nights in February, in buildings that are usually closed after dark: a library, a swimming baths, a disused print hall. The festival needed a campaign that sold the setting before the line-up was announced.
We wrote one rule for every image: a single light source and nothing else. It applied to the posters, the photography in each venue, the trailer and the stage lighting brief, so the festival looks the same in a tube station as it does on the night.
The palette is deep blue and near-black, with no colour coding by day or venue. Typography is kept to one size on the posters, so the light does the shouting.
If it can be seen in daylight, it isn’t Nocturne.
(Campaign)
Posters that switch between day and night.
Each poster runs in two versions: ink on white for daytime sites, white on deep blue for late-night and underground sites. The vertical light bar sits in the same position in both, so a run of mixed posters still reads as one campaign.
Dates and venue are the only text. Tickets are sold through a short URL rather than a QR code.
(Rollout)
The campaign ran in three waves: venues first, then the trailer, then the line-up. Each wave reused the same photographs with more information added, so early posters didn’t go out of date.
Outcome: [X] of 3 nights sold out before the line-up was announced.
People bought tickets for the buildings. The line-up was a bonus.
Credits
- Client
- Nocturne Festival, London
- Art direction & campaign
- Morrow Studio
- Photography
- [Photographer name]
- Trailer
- [Director name]
- Lighting design
- [Lighting designer]
- [Printer name]
(Overview)
A winter music festival held over three nights in buildings that are usually closed after dark. The campaign had to sell the setting before the line-up was announced.
One rule for every image: a single light source and nothing else, across posters, venue photography, the trailer and the stage lighting brief.
If it can be seen in daylight, it isn’t Nocturne.
(Campaign)
Posters that switch between day and night.
Ink on white for daytime sites, white on deep blue for late-night and underground sites. The light bar sits in the same place on both, so mixed runs still read as one campaign.
(Rollout)
Three waves: venues, then the trailer, then the line-up. Each wave reused the same photographs with more information added, so early posters never went out of date.
Outcome: [X] of 3 nights sold out before the line-up was announced.
People bought tickets for the buildings. The line-up was a bonus.
Credits
- Client
- Nocturne Festival
- Art direction
- Morrow Studio
- Photography
- [Photographer]
- Lighting
- [Lighting designer]
