SUB-URB Festival

2018

Client: student project | FINAL DEGree project

Role: Lead Graphic Designer & Concept Developer

About the project:

SUB-URB Festival is an urban music event born out of a need for alternative cultural spaces in Madrid. The festival aims to spotlight emerging Spanish artists who operate outside of traditional industry structures, artists who were raised in the digital age and use social media, streaming platforms, and viral strategies to distribute their music, build a following, and shape their own creative careers.

The first edition of the festival is designed not just as a concert experience, but as a community space where underground music, youth expression, and new technologies collide. It’s a playground for digital natives, a loudspeaker for raw talent, and a platform for cultural rebellion.

Creative concept:

How can we create a visual language that speaks to a generation raised on internet culture, but hungry for real-life connection?
SUB-URB needed an identity that felt bold, fresh, rebellious, and deeply rooted in Gen Z values: authenticity, experimentation, DIY spirit, and inclusivity.

The branding had to:

Reflect the raw, expressive energy of the underground scene
Appeal to digitally native audiences used to hyper-stimulating visual content
Be flexible and scalable for both online promotion and on-site physical environments
Create a strong, recognizable brand that could grow with future editions

The name «SUB-URB» inspired a duality that became the core of the identity system:
SUB — representing the underground, subversive, raw, DIY nature of the scene
URB — referencing the urban, the digital, the connected, the evolving city

This contrast gave birth to a visual universe where street culture and digital interfaces merge. The aesthetic is intentionally layered, glitchy, fragmented—like a Tumblr collage, a zine page, or a hacked music blog. The identity reflects the festival’s artists: unfiltered, self-made, and fearless.