A psychedelic Fringe Kaleidoscope has been chosen as the winning design for the official 2016 Adelaide Fringe poster. The eye-catching poster, created by South Australian graphic designer Stephanie Mitchell, which was revealed in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall today.
For the first time ever, the top 30 designs were displayed for the public to see on thelarge screen opposite the Myer Centre in Rundle Mall. Adelaide Fringe Director and Chief Executive Heather Croall said the Fringe Kaleidoscope was “an image the judges kept getting drawn back to again and again”.
“This year’s theme was ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ and it was exciting to see people interpret that in a myriad of ways,” said Ms Croall. “The kaleidoscope has more than a touch of 60’s psychedelia about it with mind altering patterns and movements. It’s like a Fringe carousel and we want people to be brave, jump on board and see where it takes them.”
Ms Mitchell said she was “over the moon” that her design had been chosen from a record 500 entries this year. “I tried to represent all the interesting, colourful people who come from all over the world to our city once a year for a month of wild festivities,” said Ms Mitchell.
“Even though I’ve be living away from Adelaide recently, no matter where I am I always organise to be home for Fringe time. I couldn’t bear to miss out on the fun and I love not knowing what each year has in store.”
In keeping with Adelaide Fringe’s open-access nature, there is a long history of the Fringe poster being chosen from a design competition that anyone from around the world can enter. The winning design will start to appear around Adelaide as anticipation for next year’s Fringe builds.
In other festival news, Adelaide Fringe has announced a new project with global internet giant Google’s Creative Lab to create a moving image work for the Google Cube. The Cube is an experimental form for interactive storytelling and allows filmmakers, musicians, artists and other creatives to make interactive films where the viewer controls the narrative structure.
The Cube is controlled by the audience who rotate a cube in their hands, which is then mirrored as a six-sided movie on a projection screen. For the first time, the Cube will feature an Australian filmmaker/artist with Adelaide Fringe providing an opportunity for a South Australian artist to make a work for the Cube. The project will premiere at the Fringe’s Digital Playground exhibition at the State Library of South Australia.
The full 2016 Adelaide Fringe program will be released on Wednesday 2 December 2015, and run from 12 February until 14 March. For more information, visit adelaidefringe.com.au for details.
Image: Stephanie Mitchell, Adelaide Fringe Poster 2016