Every so often, a brief lands that reminds you why you fell in love with design in the first place. Creative Boom’s Brief – a monthly challenge inviting designers to push their craft purely for the joy of it – did just that. In the latest edition, Boom Brief #3: Echo Festival, HB’s Design Director and Creative Lead, Nathan Bishop and Ant Kearney were spotlighted for their standout responses to branding a fictional music festival by the sea. This wasn’t client work. It was self-initiated, creative exploration for creativity’s sake. The kind of boundary-less experimentation we actively encourage at HB and something we’re hugely proud to celebrate when it’s recognised externally.
The challenge? Capture the energy of a modern seaside Music festival – one alive with sound, creativity and community. Think independent bands, sunrise yoga, and street food by the waves. The results? A tidal wave of bold and experimental thinking – each widely distinct in approach.
Nathan Bishop: Amplifying the seaside spirit
“For me, it felt like the perfect blend of passions – I’m a music fan who’s spent 30 years by the coast,” says Nathan. “My only rule? Break the rules – and make it look cool.”
His identity draws on nostalgic seaside visuals – pier signs, arcade lights, candy-striped beach huts – reimagined through a modern lens. His custom Bisho Condensed typeface ripples and repeats to form a wordmark that literally echoes. It feels kinetic, emotional and built to live across both screen and space.
Ant Kearney: Tearing up the rulebook
Ant approached it with deliberate rebellion. “I wanted to inject anarchy and intentional imperfection – basically tear up the rule book,” he says.
Inspired by early 90s rave culture, his concept embraces chaotic kerning, cropped forms and high-voltage contrast. At its centre the Echo Egg – a warped typographic sculpture that feels abstract at first glance, then slowly reveals the word ‘Echo’. Raw, unapologetic, and rooted in underground activity.
Creative freedom, unfiltered
“It was just nice to flex pure creativity,” says Ant. “No systems, no strategy – just play.” Nathan adds, “Sometimes, the hardest client is yourself. But that’s when you find your edge.”
At HB, we champion exactly that mindset. Creativity doesn’t stop at client work – it lives in personal experimentation, side exploration, and staying restless by choice. Challenges like Boom Brief remind us why that spirit matters. Because the best ideas often start when you simply allow yourself to play.