Emily Forgot creates Manchester Weekender identity

Each year the festival, now in its fourth year, commissions a different illustrator to create the identity, with previous designs by Helsinki-based Janine Rewell and Brighton’s Jamie Cullen.

Emily Forgot was approached for the project in July this year.

Part of the brief was to use a quote by artist Jeremy Deller about ‘all roads leading to Manchester’ as a starting point.

As such, Emily Forgot created the numbers used in the logo from road graphics, working in pattern and ‘whimsical festival elements’ over the top.

She says, ‘It was important to convey a festival/cultural feel within the design, even if I went down an abstract route. 

‘The Jeremy Deller quote was a great starting point. I liked the idea of giving the piece dimension so it would feel like a city itself with the roads creating the form of the numbers’.