Lollapalooza

Rebranding the 4-day music festival in Chicago, IL

A fresh new look for Lollapalooza inspired by the concept of a mood ring.

Lollapalooza is a music festival in Grant Park located in Chicago, IL. Founded in 1991 by the frontman of Jane’s Addiction, Perry Farrell, the festival started out as an alt-rock touring show that was meant to be the farewell tour for his band. Over the years the festival has grown to be a four-day long event and has expanded internationally to places like Berlin and Sao Paolo.

Inspired by the concept of a mood ring, I created Lolla’s new look using a vibrant color palette, 70’s and 90’s flair, and the overarching concept of sharing personal feelings. The mood ring was originally founded in the 70’s but had a resurgence in the 90’s, with places from Disney World to gas stations selling them nationwide. Although the original intention of the mood ring was for people to be able to gauge their emotions and control their anxieties, this color-changing ring allowed individuals to express their feelings to one another without really connecting. The mood ring in many ways was a harbinger for the 21st-century obsession with oversharing feelings due our society’s lack of interpersonal connection. 

Both of the “mood ring decades” had a counterculture movement with strong universal feelings, including a desire to disconnect from society and a raging sense of angst against the establishment. In several ways, these feelings have bubbled up again in 2020/21. Spending a year inside, we’re phone addicted, craving that instantaneous dopamine hit from a surge of “likes” on social media. Our society has become increasingly more divisive and isolated, creating a deep yearning for connection. Superficial means of connecting by sharing on social media are no longer working for us. We need emotional connection. 

The original zeitgeist of Lollapalooza was a place that could bring people together through music, arts, and entertainment, becoming a key community for people to connect. Lollapalooza acts in place of a mood ring or a superficial connection on social media and brings us a place where we can collectively express ourselves. By sharing the collective high and joyous experience of live music and entertainment, festival-goers unite in ways no other place can bring. That is the Lollapalooza experience.