Rabbithole on the sensitivity challenges of branding Leeds' big ideas festival

Leeds International Festival of Ideas (LIFI) is an annual event that brings together leading thinkers, innovators, and creatives to explore some of the most pressing issues of our time. Taking place every autumn, it covers topics across science, technology, culture and society and serves as a platform for exchanging ideas, fostering dialogue, and encouraging curiosity.

Notable figures at this year's event included musicians Nile Rodgers and BEKA discussing creativity, journalist Kate Adie and Stacey Dooley on conflict reporting, and doctor and writer Tim Spector on gut health. Other speakers included model Christine McGuinness, musician Matt Willis and TV presenters Rylan and Carol Vorderman.

When it came to branding, the event organisers turned once again to Leeds and Glasgow-based design studio Rabbithole. The studio has played a pivotal role in shaping LIFI's evolution over the past four years, assisting its transformation from a multi-arts festival into an ideas festival focused on debate and inspiring new perspectives.

Rather than just recycling previous designs, Rabbithole creates fresh art direction for the festival each year, built on a consistent and recognisable brand identity. We chatted to creative director Tim Dee to learn how they went about it for 2024.

The brief

There isn't actually a formal brief for this event: "Typically, we hold a debrief shortly after the festival with the LIFI team, which then forms the brief for the next year," explains Tim. "It's quite casual, yet it addresses various aspects, including event logistics, audience impact reports, and anecdotal testimony.

"Having a holistic review provides us valuable insights," he adds, "enabling us to consider broader areas where our work can add value. It also helps us shape the following year's brief and scope of work."

For this year's iteration of the festival, Rabbithole moved away from abstract ideas and used the audience to inspire the graphics.

"Over the past three years, we had celebrated the 'ideas' that the festival explores through abstract artwork designed to evoke intrigue and curiosity," explains Tim. "The concept for this year emerged from watching the audience vox pops from LIFI23 events. Observing the emotions and impacts of the ideas on attendees provided an interesting starting point for us. Initial experiments felt the direction could create a more immediate connection than the abstract forms of previous years."

Visual assets

Creating the visuals, however, was more challenging than they anticipated. "With sensitive topics like 'How do we talk about addiction?' we had to be mindful of how appropriate facial representations were and how they might influence viewers' perceptions of the subject matter," Tim explains.

Designer Claren Tran adds: "We created a wide range of variations, testing them against the subject matter to strike a balance between distinctiveness and appropriateness. Some felt too childish, others too intense." Overall, they created over 200 versions. "One day, we'll do a book on them!" says Tim.

So, what prompted them to go down the 3D route? "Image creation has always been a vital aspect of the festival's visual identity," responds Tim. "Since the festival is annual and has a quick turnaround, programming is often finalised late in the process.

"That means that we don't have a full speaker lineup and headshots to use at the beginning of the campaign," he continued. "As a result, we typically start the campaign using the identity to communicate event dates and themes until talent contracts are finalised. Working in 3D gives us the right amount of flexibility and speed within the process to experiment without too many limitations."

"To do this, we work closely with our talented friend Joseph Toreki," he added. "We have a very similar taste in approach and have a lot of fun bouncing around ideas until we settle on the final finish."

Typography and colour palette

As for the typography, Rabbithole's approach focused on clarity and simplicity this year. "In previous years, the type system was highly expressive, featuring complex layouts that complemented the simpler abstract shapes within the identity," says Tim. "However, with this year's figurative focus, we felt it necessary to reduce the visual noise to create a more impactful presentation."

The colour palette, meanwhile, focused on pink. "This has been the signature colour of the LIFI identity since its inception, representing one of the few consistent visual elements," explains Tim. "In late summer, the vibrant pink is easily spotted around the city as messaging begins to emerge."

To maintain this visual consistency, they opted for just one colour treatment for graphics this year. "This choice simplified the identity and enhanced its recognisability across various applications while fostering a sense of collective belonging of the audience."

Motion design became an effective way to further amplify the impact of the graphics. "We aimed to use motion to make the visuals as joyful as possible," notes Tim. "We know that talks can feel a little over-intellectual or stiff to those unfamiliar with this format, but they're anything but. The hope was to create a sense of excitement and engagement, encouraging attendees to fully immerse themselves in the experience and connect with both the content and each other."

Finding the balance

The final artwork finds the balance and captures the spirit of a curious audience seeking to explore new perspectives and participate in open, honest, and courageous conversations.

"This year's artwork has struck a chord with our audience, and we've seen increased engagement across all events," says festival director Martin Dickson.

"Ticket sales for 2024 have been exceptionally strong, with all events selling out in advance. "Unprecedented demand for events such as We're all neurodiverse, aren't we?, featuring Christine McGuinness, Ellie Middleton, Dr Alice Siberry, Doddz, and Tumi Sotire, have required venue changes to increase capacity."

In conclusion, Tim reflects on how "over the past few years, LIFI has built a highly engaged audience. Watching this audience grow has been fantastic; the energy at the events can be electric. We've had people aged eight to 80 in one room, listening, sharing, and debating emerging ideas. Seeing the audience engage in healthy, dynamic conversations is incredibly satisfying and something worth celebrating".