weird and wonderful

New Zealand Fringe Festival 2023

Who we worked with:
New Zealand Fringe Festival
What we did:

Experience design Design Build Improve

Check it out:
fringe.co.nz

A web platform revamp for the Fringe Festival

Working with clients whose teams include contortionists, rock gods, massage therapists, superheroes and Mexican wrestlers isn’t something that happens every day - unless you work in the strange and wonderful world of Fringe.

The New Zealand Fringe Festival has become a vital and enthralling part of Wellington’s artistic landscape, while simultaneously offering a rite of passage for artists and audiences alike.

Festivals are often seen as the glamorous star of the creative arts sector but are notoriously underfunded. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of underperformance.

Operated by not-for-profits, they are heavily reliant on ticket revenue to meet operating costs in a global climate of reduced arts sector funding. This means they often do not have the funds to secure a professional digital platform necessary to achieve a critical mass of sales, which often leads to sub-standard ad hoc online platforms.

Fringe is also a distinct sub-genre within the festivals sector, with a focus on early stage or experimental performances. That means more shows, more venues, smaller audiences and a donation based mentality that wasn’t helping the budget needs of the Fringe team.

Through our decade long involvement in the sector as digital design specialists, we have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenges arts festivals face, as well as insight into what makes a technical platform that delivers experiential, yet flexible sites.

Working with the bold new brand developed by the fine folk at Inject Design, we were able to bring this experience to bear on the Fringe 2017 digital platform, helping it to become the most successful festival yet.

Featuring over 140 shows from in excess of 1,000 artists, the new Fringe website and digital platform delivered a whopping 63% increase in online ticket sales over previous years, as well as the largest total audience yet.

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Crazy home page

By embracing a truly design-led process, we have been able to create a visually impactful, beautiful, fun and indelible digital experience, building on the broader Fringe brand. The festival is a colourful affair and this sentiment has literally informed the site design.

Design elements

The bold web platform design includes individualised event descriptions, an online booking system and an online calendar featuring all of the festival events.

Location map

We created a visual map to show where each event takes place, which makes it easier for people to find things to see and do near them during the Fringe Festival.

"NV Interactive have created a stunning website for us. We are the envy of so many festivals around the world! The team are a dream to work with. They understand the fast paced Fringe Festival environment, and are as committed as we are to supporting our arts community."

Sasha Tilly NZ Fringe Festival Director