International Surf Festival Rebrand (Coast)

The International Surf Festival is an annual ocean sporting event that is hosted by the four South Bay beach cities in California. It features over 20 unique events (including long distance swimming, volleyball, beach runs and more). Every year, people come from all over the world to participate. Despite its popularity, the festival has a somewhat limited online presence and visually-dated brand. As a personal challenge, I set out to rebrand the festival, seeking not only to design an updated visual system, but also to develop a campaign that could bring the festival to a broader audience.

Because the International Surf Festival offers much more than just surfing, I wanted to create a new name that encompasses all the various kinds of events that are offered each year. To maintain the link between the old and new brand, the new name (“Coast”) keeps the original name as a subtitle. Further, I identified three core values that align with the mission of the festival (Authenticity, Community, and Motion).

The new brand identity includes a new logo, brand pattern, brand guidelines, website, social media advertising and other event and promotional collateral. The common element that connects it all are the core values and variety that the festival offers.