ART DIRECTION & VISUAL BRAND STRATEGY

“Erik is able to see the big picture, and can produce
just about any stupid idea we come up with.”
—NICK PRUEHER, HOST/CO-FOUNDER

The Found Footage Festival is a celebration of the videos that time forgot. It is a one-of-a-kind comedy and multimedia event that showcases film clips from videos found at garage sales, thrift stores, warehouses, and dumpsters across the country, usually hailing from the "golden age" of VHS. The hosts Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett provide commentary and context for each clip, with running jokes, comedy skits, and often celebrity cameo appearances. In addition to its regular touring schedule, the FFF has appeared at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival, Just For Laughs Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Bonnaroo, the New York Comedy Festival, and on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and NPR. Since around 2010, the FFF has shifted focus toward producing web media, such as web series The Found Footage Show, VCR Party Live, Shaturday Morning Cartoons, Lenora's Midnight Rental, and Strange Tapes Strange Show, as well as the streaming service rewind-o.

I worked closely with the FFF from 2007–2013 as their chief designer and overall art director. The show's visual brand language, which was ultimately refreshed in 2022, emphasizes the "scavenged" and eclectic nature of the event, with a different visual theme for each iteration/tour of the show and recurring collaged elements and pastiche references from the show's clips and comedy bits. Recurring visual elements include grungy textures, piles of VHS tapes, wood paneling and shag carpet, collage work, and custom illustration by myself, as well as featured illustrators such as Johnny Ryan and Simon Turner. These elements are pieced together with respect, reverence, and no regard whatsoever for their original quality, much like the show itself. 

The primary brandmark for the Found Footage Festival is at the top; this serves as the "default" visual identity whenever a more custom mark is unavailable or inappropriate. This primary brandmark is what appears on the FFF website and various streaming videos. Secondary marks that relate specifically to various show tours are below. Business collateral is at the bottom.

Tour 2 mark, designed by Erik Evensen

Tour 3 mark, designed by Erik Evensen

Tour 4 mark, designed by Johnny Ryan

Tour 6 mark, designed by Johnny Ryan

DVD PACKAGING DESIGN

Each "volume" of the Found Footage Festival is based on the touring show—typically a specially-recorded live performance intended for distribution, in locations such as Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Chicago. Custom illustration by myself and Johnny Ryan.

vol 3. DVD, 2009

vol 3 DVD, 2008

vol. 5 DVD, 2010

vol 2 DVD, 2007

vol. 6 DVD, 2012

select DVD packaging for bonus content; including media pranks for Chef Keith and K-Strass the Yo-Yo Master

SELECTED PRINT ADVERTISING, 2007–2012

Illustration stills from a Saturday morning cartoon gag from Found Footage Festival: Volume 4. The conceit of the skit is that the Found Footage Festival has commissioned an animated series, where the hosts travel the country solving mysteries with the help of a diverse cast of teens, and their pal "Tapey," an anthropomorphic talking VHS tape.

SELECTED TOUR POSTERS

Design of the Found Footage Festival's website, foundfootagefest.com. This version of the website existed for about 12 years, 2010–2022, and was redesigned and relaunched in 2022. This version was designed by a team led by myself as art director, and developer Mark Denu, using Drupal as a content management system. The site required robust video presentation, scheduling apps, and a web store.

foundfootagefest.com