A crew of ceramic Londoners feature in Field Day’s identity for 2023

A woollen double-breasted coat, thick turtleneck and a spotted red tie and suit combo – it’s not exactly your classic English summer festival gear, is it? And yet, we’re thankful that these are some of the first outfits audiences will associate with Field Day 2023 because of a great new identity from the East London festival. This year, Field Day has worked with Only Studio on the look, as well as Grace Wilson, the comic artist and ceramicist who has turned in a whole batch of hand-painted characters.

A vibrant orange and white colour palette features alongside the bold sans serif Field Day wordmark. Though, these are supporting players on the work. As Only Studio’s Aidan Cooke states: “It was important that the type and colour we used sat comfortably with the models, and kept the ceramics as the hero to the design.” Only Studio also manages to turn entirely static figurines into animated assets, giving the effect of passersby walking, bobbing around and excitedly shuffling about. The ceramics are meant to “honour the eccentricity, the fun and the characters that are synonymous with [East London]”, Luke Huxham, director of Field Day and Broadwick Live explains.

Last year, Field Day’s identity took a different direction – a vivid, but more minimal graphic identity featuring animated blinking eyes. This approach, according to Luke, “was really effective but this year we wanted something more dynamic that could evolve throughout the year.” The addition of Grace’s ceramics allows for more range and personality across digital and OOH formats.

Aidan outlines how there were “a few interesting challenges” that emerged when trying to animate ceramics. “For example, the models need to be weighted towards the bottom, so they don’t fall over in the kiln. This means having to think about how separate the model’s legs and feet might be, and what that then means for any walking motion. There were other considerations too like the posture of the models, making sure their stance had enough character to work in static form, without looking completely unnatural in motion.”

Aidan sums up the work: “The basic idea was to try and connect Field Day with its home in Victoria Park. We were looking for something simple, playful and impactful.” Luke adds: “We shared some initial tests with a small group of friends which gave us a sense of how people would respond. We’re really happy with how people have reacted to it.”