Click image to open interactive version (via thetrainline.com).
Hello! So I recently had the opportunity to interview, Leonie Wharton, Senior Designer at Distilled, an online marketing agency. Leonie headed an awesome new project to create a web app that catalogs UK festivals and music performances. [Click here to check it out].
Basically what you do is scroll through the enormous list of musicians, click the ones your interested in seeing live, click Search- and voila! An easy-to-read list of concert names, dates, locations and even prices is displayed on your screen. Did I mention that the site is good looking and ridiculously fast? If you love music and live in the UK, there is NO reason you shouldn’t be using this Festival Finder tool.
Learn more about the Festival Finder and its creator, Leonie Wharton, in my interview, below.
1. First, I love this app. It’s easy-to-use, quick and it even looks good! What motivated you to create a searchable database of UK musicians?
Like many ideas, this tool was the solution to a problem I had myself.
I am a massive music fan, so each year when festival season approaches I often find myself trawling from one festival website to the next trying to discover where my favourite artists are playing; its time consuming. Festival websites aren’t always clear / in the same format and it can be hard to weigh up which festival is the best choice.
2. Have you done anything like this in the past? Or was this something completely new for you?
I have created several tools in the past but none on a subject that is so close to my heart. The subject also lent itself to more creativity than I am usually given, and the chance to experiment with illustration. The whole ethos of our client, thetrainline.com is to “help people to make better decisions about travel” and so the idea of making it easier to understand which UK festival has the most bands you want to see fitted perfectly with their brand positioning we’ve done other things along this line for them in the past, namely a guide to the best value Michelen star restaurant lunches in the UK –http://www.thetrainline.com/news/michelin-star-restaurants
3. How often is the site updated with new concerts?
Every few weeks.
4. Any plans to add on to the site? Add a map, perhaps?
A map could be useful, however the main focus is on the artists and the other deciding factors, price / location etc are secondary. An element of user decision making is still necessary, but the tool certainly helps to narrow things down. We would love to develop a version for European festivals.
5. I know I would definitely use this app if I lived in the UK. Any plans to create a sister site for the US?
Creating one for the US too would be fantastic. However, our client is a European based organisation, so branching out to the US is unlikely. Also with the sheer amount of festivals in the US, it would have to be cut down to the top contenders.
6. Was this website created for Distilled or just as a personal project?
It was created for one of Distilled’s long standing clients. We have a great relationship with this client. They trust us and allow us freedom with our ideas and direction. This hands off approach has enabled us to create exciting projects like this one.
7. Distilled seems like an awesome company- very neat, creative, unique and forward-thinking. I see you’ve been a designer there for quite a while. What about Distilled makes it such a great place to work?
I have worked at Distilled for nearly 6 years. For me the attraction has always been the friendly environment and the space to grow and develop as a designer within the company. When I began Distilled had 5 employees and now there are around 60. My best friends in London have been employees of Distilled. I always say to my boss, thanks for hiring such great friends for me. I thrive on being able to express myself creatively, our diverse range of clients and open briefs means that new and exciting projects are always round the corner.
I want to thank Leonie again for taking the time to answer my questions. Click here to check out her profile over at Distilled. Can’t wait to see what the folks over at Distilled create next!
