music@menlo — Michele Hratko

Revitalizing a chamber music festival for a contemporary audience.

As a Merchandise and Publicity intern, I created the brand identity and all design collateral for the summer season at Music@Menlo, an internationally acclaimed chamber music festival in the Bay Area. I also designed all marketing and communications materials for the summer festival, including fliers, street banners, digital and print ads, eblasts, social media, and more. Paralleling our marketing campaigns, I led the design and production of festival merchandise and ran the merch booth at each concert. This summer offered an incredible glimpse into arts and music management, and I also gained first hand experience with the breadth of communications design and collaboration with cross functional teams.

Graphic Design, Digital Design, & Merchandise

Time: May - August 2024, 12 weeks
Team: Teresa Arisawa
Tools: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects

Developing the festival identity
within an existing brand context.

Music@Menlo rebranded a few months prior to my internship, giving me a fresh slate to work with. While I was constrained by the company’s color palette and typefaces, Proxima Nova and Proxima Sera, I was able to to take the brand in a new direction for the summer season in line with the summer’s theme, “French Reflections.” We chose to limit our color palette to “Deep Menlo Red” and “Ocean Steel Blue” to mirror the France inspired theme.

Our “French Reflections” branding also diverted from the traditional branding of past festivals. Music@Menlo has tended to lean into very dark posters and branding to present themselves as more formal, but I made the case of brighter and lighter branding this year to capture the summery, travel theme, and target a younger demographic. I went through multiple design ideas which I presented in a pitch deck to the team before landing on the final direction of a kaleidoscope motif and travel stamp icon. The kaleidoscope posters were front-facing towards the local community and current patrons, while the more youthful stamp motif was leaned into on social media.

Publicity Materials

Promotional materials distributed through print and digital avenues. Street banners, newspaper ads, fliers, and signage in local community spaces. Eblasts, social media, and web ads for online spaces.

Street Banners

Sandwich Board and Fliers

Postcard Mailer

Social Media

I worked with my intern parner on creating all assets from scratch including an animated Instagram reel that I made to boost engagement.

Handmade Stamp Assets

Merchandise

Designing, ordering, and selling merchandise at each concert throughout the 3-week festival. We collaborated directly with vendors to receive blank samples, approve proofs, and prepare files for print.

Screenprinted Graphic Tee

Baseball Hat (Front and Side Embroidery)

Vinyl Stickers + Sticker Sheet

Screenprinted Tea Towel

Illustrated Stickers (one of our most popular items!)

Selling merch:

Reflections

My time with Music@Menlo was incredible, and I’m so grateful to the amazing team for trusting me with the festival design and introducing me to chamber music. It was so exciting to see so many of my designs printed and brought to life, as well as witness musicians and patrons alike sporting the hats, shirts, and bags all summer. I learned so much about marketing, advertising, and communications that I can’t wait to continue exploring alongside design.

Contact