Designing a Grown Up Playground

INTERVIEWED BY Steve Smith PHOTOS Supplied

How do you design a brand identity for a music festival? Who better to ask than Merwe Marchand Le Roux, the creative director behind the Liefde By Die Dam festival’s colourfully exuberant vibe.

If you’re an Afrikaans music fan, you’ll no doubt know Liefde By Die Dam as one of SA’s biggest Afrikaans music festivals. If not, here’s the cheat sheet…   

It’s an annual event held in Johannesburg, Cape Town in Windhoek Namibia (where it’s called and Liefde by die Nam) that features a mix of pop and alternative Afrikaans acts. The festival, named after legendary singer-songwriter Valiant Swart’s famous hit song with the same name, is known for its world-class music production in a daytime festival setting with crowds of up to 15 000 people.  

And it’s not only the music that has made this festival so popular … it’s also The Vibe. And someone who plays a large part in creating that vibe is designer and illustrator Merwe Marchand Le Roux who developed the brand identity.  

He gives us some insight into how one approaches a design brief like this… 

In your experience, how does branding for a music festival differ from other types of design projects? What makes it unique or challenging? 

“Festival branding is all about creating a big impact. The challenge lies in keeping it fresh and engaging year after year. Each year, we focus on introducing one or two new builds for the festival, offering something new to the audience. These new elements are then brought to life through animation. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that all aspects—onscreen visuals, merch, and festival builds—work together cohesively.” 

What was the primary vision behind the design, and how did you ensure it captured the spirit of the festival? 

“The primary vision was to keep the design clean, colourful, and bold to ensure it stands out against the Johannesburg winter landscape as this was where our first Liefde by die Dam was held in 2016. The look was the pulled through to the Cape Town venue at Meerendal.” 

How did you integrate the festival’s mission or ethos into the visual identity? 

“The ethos is about creating a playful and fun environment. I achieved this by designing main characters with whom the audience can interact, bringing the festival to life in a more personal way.” 

Describe your initial approach to developing the brand identity for Liefde By Die Dam. What were some of the first steps you took? 

“The first step was to focus on strong colours and simple, bold shapes that are easy to read. I also aimed to create recognisable icons that could be used consistently across all visual communication— from the festival builds to onscreen visuals and merchandise.” 

The typography and colour scheme are central to the identity. What drove those particular choices, and how do they reflect the festival’s vibe? 

“I’ve always been a fan of pastel colours mixed with bold typography, probably influenced by 1980s cartoons like DuckTales, Brakkenjan, Care Bears, Tom and Jerry, Mina Moo, and Bravestar.” 

How did you approach the visual storytelling of the festival’s theme through the logo and other brand elements? 

“The main focus was to make all the elements work together. The animations created by Rave Growl help bring the builds to life, and from there, the visual assets are used across merch and other materials.” 

Were there any specific emotions or messages you wanted the audience to feel when they interacted with the brand materials? 

“I wanted the audience to feel small in the festival space, to experience it as a grown-up playground, where they can fully immerse themselves in the environment.” 

How do you think the brand identity you created impacts festival-goers’ perceptions of the event and their overall experience? 

“The bold, clean branding makes the festival feel fresh, and it sets the expectation for festival-goers to always experience something new and exciting.” 

And if all of that inspires you to buy a ticket for next years’ events, you had better be quick … that tickets for the Johannesburg concert sell out in minutes each year and Cape Town literally in a couple of days. | liefdebydiedam

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