FADER FORT
by The FADER
BRIEF → Scale Fader Fort beyond activating at SXSW Music.
CHALLENGE → Lead with the Fader brand without displacing brand sponsors.
IDEA → Fader Fort, the original experiential platform for independent music and youth culture.
EXPRESSION → Logo, Content, Photo Book, Venue Branding, Sponsor Experiences.
IMPACT → 327,970,000+ earned impressions.
Logo Design
The Fort logo’s two main objectives are to signal a connection to The Fader through the use of its branded “F” and matching typeface, and to symbolize Fort as a champion of independent music through its flag concept. Together they define how Fader Fort delivers experiences to its community. Graphically, it’s inspired by some of the most iconic logos in independent music, evoking a sense of rebellion, vitality and movement, much like Fort’s live experiences.
FADER logo and branded “F”
Logo references and inspiration
Digital Content
An essential step to scaling Fort was launching a dedicated Instagram feed to honor its most iconic moments and promote upcoming events. @fort is a mix of storytelling, reporting, interviews, live performances, archival footage, and branded content. Fader’s content strategy for its Youtube and Apple Music partnerships was also focused to activate around Fort experiences. Together these elevate Fort from annual pop-up activation to ‘always-on’ for independent music fans and brands that want to connect with them.
Shot by Roger Kisby
Shot by Mary Kang
Shot by Roger Kisby
Shot by Brook Robbins
Shot by Mary Kang
Shot by Isaac Solomon
Shot by Jesse Lirola
Commemorative Book Release
After the launch of @fort we published “Fader Fort: Setting The Stage”, a hardcover book and traveling photography exhibit that looks back at all the seminal appearances by up-and-coming artists who would later become genre-defining icons — testimony to Fader Fort’s influence in pop culture. Featuring portraiture, reportage, and live performance shots, the book chronicles Fort’s history as a refuge and platform for independent artistry. Self-published and distributed to independent book shops, it’s a demonstration of the ethos in which Fort comes from — independent and uncompromising vision.
Shot by Ethan Holland
Shot by Isaac Solomon
Shot by Roger Kisby
Shot by Roger Kisby
Shot by Ryan Muir
Shot by (L) Ryan Muir, (R) Roger Kisby
Shot by Alex Welsh
Shot by Mary Kang
Shot by John Francis Peters
Shot by Jesse Lirola
Shot by Roger Kisby
Shot by Mary Kang
Shot by Roger Kisby
FORT Show Flyers
Photography Exhibit at The Compound in Bronx, NY
Venue Branding
Fader Fort is a platform for artistry and brand experiences, and every execution at venues is governed by that premise. The creative challenge to this lies in striking the right balance of Fort branding while supporting sponsor branding and guest artist visuals. While remaining somewhat neutral, Fort branding must also be highly visible in any social media from the press and fans to ensure attribution and feel integrated to the experience. Placing Fader Fort brand elements around and behind the stage was strategic, as it created ads out of every moment captured in visual media.
Shot by Ryan Muir
Shot by Ryan Muir
Shot by Ryan Muir
Shot by Justin Leitner
Shot by Ryan Muir
Shot by Meron Menghistab
Sponsor Experiences
Brand sponsors elevate the experience with activations that bring the creative and independent spirit of Fort to life. Whether it be with food and beverage pop-ups or experiential activations for lifestyle and technology brands, every brand interaction at Fort honors the artistry and authenticity that its legacy is built on.
Toyota, Shot by Meron Menghistab
The North Face, Shot by Ryan Muir
Impossible Foods, Shot by Ryan Muir
Vitamin Water, Shot by Ryan Muir
Smirnoff, Shot by Ryan Muir
Scaling Fader’s SXSW activation into an always-on brand platform.
Outline:
The Fader Fort brand relaunch scaled the Fort brand from annual pop-up to Fader-owned IP that can activate at cultural events across music, sport, entertainment, tech and fashion. The relaunch began with a Fort logo and Instagram feed to elevate it as a standalone brand, with the @fort channel showcasing its archive of music photography while also promoting upcoming Fort events. This was followed by a retrospective photo book and traveling photo exhibit for the brand relaunch. Both the book and social content created new, current equity in the Fort brand as it showcased all of the influential moments that took place on stage and backstage throughout the years. A brand toolkit was created along with screen and environmental graphics for performances and activations. With its brand system, toolkit, and always-on social content, Fader Fort is a platform that’s scaled beyond SXSW Music, and proven to activate anywhere, anytime.
Background:
Started in 2002 as a hotel party during SXSW Music, Fader Fort (aka Fort) is known as the stage to watch for what’s next in independent music. In the years since, much like being on the cover of The Fader magazine, playing at Fort has become a rite of passage for a recording artist’s career. Many of today’s most influential artists have performed on Fort’s stage in front of The Fader’s diverse community of music fans, influencers and creators.
Challenges:
By 2017, music festivals had grown into a multibillion dollar industry. Because Fort is synonymous with independence, scaling it became an existential dilemma – should it scale too, or make the experience exclusive? We decided to do both – further curate the experience of each Fort activation while scaling it beyond music and into other categories, such as sport and fashion. Fort’s newfound exclusivity generated new records for earned media impressions, and positioned it as a turnkey music solution for tentpole events that needed to connect with a young and plugged-in demographic.
Impact:
327,970,000+ earned impressions
1,260,610,991 total impressions
7,000+ daily attendees
(Average 2017–2019)
Press
The New York Times → South by Southwest Music Festival: 17 Acts That Stood Out
Fast Company → How The Fader Is Staying Ahead Of The Curve At 22
Billboard → Fader Fort Announces Preliminary SXSW Lineup, New Venue Change
High Snobiety → The Fader Drops Their First-Ever Photo Book
Variety → See Photos of Drake, Future, Lil Yachty, More in Preview of Fader Fort Book
Fast Company → Here’s The Next Best Thing To Being At The Fader Fort During SXSW
Artsy → Setting The Stage: FADER photo exhibit
The Knockturnal → Fader Fort Dominated Day 3 Of A3C
Team
Brand → Fader Fort
Agency → Cornerstone (in-house agency for The Fader)
Creatives → Andy Cohn, Anthony Holland, David Rosenfeld, Deron Millay, Grace Gordon, Graham Heth, Graham Taylor, Hannah Lo Bello, John Majer, Jon Cohen, Kalani Fujimori, Kristina Baptiste, Kristyn Cheek, Madison Bullard, Malcolm Campbell, Morgan Steiker, Rob Stone, Robert English, Robert Semmer, Scott Perry, Shauna Alexander, Shaung Wan, Steve Caputo
Photographers → Alex Welsh, Brook Robbins, Courtney Dudley, Dorothy Hong, Emily Berl, Ethan Holland, Faith-Ann Young, Greg Noire, Isaac Solomon, Ismael Quintanilla, Jesse Lirola, Jessica Lehrman, John Francis Peters, Justin Leitner, Kyle Dean Reinford, Mary Kang, Meron Menghistab, OG, Perry Julien, Phillip Angert, Piper Ferguson, Roger Kisby, Ryan Muir, Sam Balaban, Valerie Chang