Background

UNTOLD Festival is a large, multi-genre music and entertainment festival that began in Romania in 2015. It features international artists across EDM, hip-hop, techno, and pop, and is known for its high production value and immersive atmosphere. In 2024, it expanded outside Romania for the first time with UNTOLD Dubai, positioned as a mega-festival that blends its electronic music roots with a high-tech, experiential environment.

The current UNTOLD Dubai identity is carried over from the original design story, rooted in fantasy storytelling and Romanian mythology and artistry. It relies heavily on gold elements and dark, unsaturated backgrounds. There is a clear opportunity to develop an independent identity that will resonate with Dubai’s audience, and better reflect the essence of the festival.

Solution
The core idea behind the new visual identity is to highlight the audience and the sensory experience of being in UNTOLD Dubai. Heat maps and blurs serve as a metaphor for the diverse audience of Dubai, portraying the festival as a melting pot of cultures and identities coming together for an unforgettable musical experience. The identity also draws from the actual visual atmosphere of the festival. The vibrant colors, lights, and pyrotechnics seen on-site are carried directly into the new visual language. It also builds on the explosive energy of electronic dance music, the festival’s defining genre, channeling its movement and intensity into color, light, and motion. Together, these elements give the brand an eye-catching presence and reinforce UNTOLD Dubai as the “hottest event of the year”, capturing the energy and excitement of being there.

Technique & Application
A major component of the identity is the treated imagery used across all applications. The visuals focus on people, whether audience members or performers, to emphasize their personal experience inside the festival. A custom gradient map was developed to keep the treatment consistent. It is influenced by the combined thermal color palettes Rainbow and Ironbow from Flir thermal cameras. Motion blur and noise are added to convey movement, intensity, and the feeling of dancing in a among hundreds of people.

Logo and Typography
The new UNTOLD Dubai logo was developed in parallel with the image treatment to ensure it works smoothly with the vivid and loud visuals. The word “Dubai” is now omitted, since the imagery and visual language itself already represent the city. The wordmark is a textured graffiti-like hand-painted type, once again centering the identity on the experiences people create. Yellow typography is used to complement the vibrant visual language, adding contrast while working harmoniously with the colorful imagery.

This reimagined identity brings together the people, the sound, and the atmosphere that define UNTOLD Dubai. It is expressive, energetic, and unmistakably tied to the city, giving the festival a look that feels as alive as the experience itself.