DDW | Harvey Li

DDW Music Festival: Interactive Microsite and Campaign Assets

[Interaction Design, UI Design, Visual Design]

Description

A promotional concept for Dutch Design Week’s DDW Music Festival that combines a high-energy microsite with supporting campaign assets. Grounded in design research and cultural context, the experience uses strong content strategy, dynamic composition, and playful interactions to communicate the festival identity and guide visitors to discover artists and venues.

My Role

Interaction Designer · UI / Visual Designer

Team

Terence Xu, Muhan Huang, Jeryl Villasoto

Timeline

8-week client-based project

Overview

We designed a cohesive promotional system consisting of an interaction-first microsite and supporting campaign assets (poster, billboard, and site placement concept). The solution integrates content strategy, UI/interaction design, and art direction to drive discovery while maintaining clear hierarchy.

Content and experience strategy

Structure content so users can quickly answer: What’s the vibe? Who’s featured? Where do I go?
Use motion and interaction to encourage exploration while keeping navigation lightweight and readable.

Key microsite interactions

Atmosphere-first entry with a video-backed landing to communicate “night festival” instantly
Shuffle-based exploration to reduce choice overload and encourage discovery
Venue discovery map presented as a moving collage for fast visual context, with inner pages for details
Drag-and-drop audio interaction inspired by a record-player metaphor for playful music sampling
Browsable database + sorting so users can find activities by preference or location

Visual direction

A print-inspired aesthetic using halftone textures and cyan/magenta contrast to create dynamic composition and a bold nightlife identity, while preserving legibility and consistent UI hierarchy.

Iteration

Design choices were refined through critique and evidence-based review, focusing on clarity of information hierarchy, interaction affordances, and brand coherence.

Context

DDW Music Festival is a nighttime event within Dutch Design Week. There was an opportunity to better communicate its distinct identity and make it easier for audiences to explore artists, venues, and activities.

Core problem

Potential attendees need a fast, engaging way to understand the festival vibe and navigate key information (who’s performing, where it happens, what to explore) without friction or overload.

Design goal

Create a coherent promotional system that balances emotional impact (atmosphere) with clarity (information hierarchy and wayfinding), aligned with the DDW brand spirit.

Key Features

The microsite opens with a full screen visual entry point that introduces the festival atmosphere before showing detailed information. The dark blue photography, bold title, and minimal “enter site” interaction create a strong first impression and position the project as both a music festival website and a digital campaign experience.
The microsite combines an abstract Eindhoven map with venue based schedule pages. Users can first explore festival locations visually, then view performance times, artists, and venue details in one place. This supports both discovery and quick event planning.
The site translates music listening behaviors into the interface through “shuffle,” current artist information, a player like progress bar, and a drag and drop discovery moment. These interactions make browsing feel more playful and connected to the experimental identity of the festival.
The database view allows users to browse artists through visual thumbnails, metadata, and short descriptions. Each artist page includes genre, date, time, location, and supporting imagery, helping users discover unfamiliar performers through both visual and informational cues.