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Bastion Festival
Art Direction, Identity, Music

We were brought on board by the Bastion team to evolve the Mallacoota based music festival’s identity for 2026. Our research steered early concepts towards ideas of place, growth and rebirth- looking to highlight the biodiversity, strength and beauty of the remarkable stretch of coastline where Bastion is held. Developing into the overarching theme of “breath”, this year’s direction was all about connecting to place.

Fire breathes, and after the fire so too does the land as seedlings and sprouts are reborn. The ocean breathes- waves crashing, tides flowing in and out. A festival is a chance to breathe, relax and appreciate music, mateship and nature. And Bastion had also taken a breath for a year- recollecting, reconnecting and refuelling for their 2026 edition.

We drew largely upon the endemic flora and textural landscape of Mallacoota to form the 2026 festival identity. Botanical eco-prints made using local plantlife form the base of the visual language- being used across the poster, artist profiles and merchandise to tether this musical gathering to the land. Mallacoota has such a unique ecosystem; boasting gorgeous plants such as the Mallacoota Gum- an extremely rare hybrid species of eucalyptus that occurs exclusively in the Mallacoota township- and plenty of natural havens like the richly biodiverse Gabo Island which is inhabited by a breadth of animals hailing from the sea, sky and land. We were lucky to use fallen branches from the Mallacoota Gum to create eco-prints with its long leaves, as well as use a stunning piece of Gabo granite for an introductory film short.

The main festival poster mirrors multiple eco-prints to form patterns reminiscent of lungs and natural air passages. In motion, these patterns slowly and subtly melt together as if the poster itself is breathing- made possible by using photographs of rock textures from Mallacoota as animation layer masks.

Lastly, the existing logomark was reinvigorated by carving and printing the dancing figure from a sheet of lino. This is paired with a crisp new Bastion wordmark using HB Goblet A.

All designs are typeset in HB Goblet A by HB Type
Merchandise screen printed by us at EAR Studio

Image:
Image:Animated Festival Poster
Image:Printed Poster Grid
Image:Announcement Videos - Introduction, Tickets on Sale, Artist Lineup
Image:Bastion 2026 Banner, Mallacoota
Image:Artist Profile - Radium Dolls
Image:Artist Profiles - Andras, Laura Lucas
Image:Artist Profiles - Andras, Laura Lucas
Image:Artist Profiles - Daniel Aarons, DJ Sarah
Image:Artist Profiles - Daniel Aarons, DJ Sarah
Image:Festival Wristbands
Image:Bastion Logomark Lino-prints
Image:Festival Photography by Lachlan Callender
Image:Festival Photography by Lachlan Callender
Image:Festival Merch - Tees and Hoodies
Image:Festival T-Shirt
Image:Festival Hoodie
Image:Botanical Print - Indigofera Australis
Image:Botanical Print - Indigofera Australis
Image:Botanical Print - Clematis Aristata
Image:Botanical Print - Clematis Aristata
Image:Botanical Print - Acacia Melanoxylon
Image:Botanical Print - Acacia Melanoxylon
Image:Botanical Print - Carboprotus Rossii
Image:Botanical Print - Carboprotus Rossii
Image:BTS
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