Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Role

Creative Director

Channels

Social Media Marketing

Digital Advertising

Outdoor Advertising

Guerilla Marketing

Briefing

Every fall, Albuquerque takes to the skies and transforms into the world's biggest hot air balloon festival. For nine days, hundreds of balloons take to the sky, filling the horizon with color. This event is known as the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and draws in hundreds of thousands to visit the city every year.

In Spring of 2025, I took a class at the University of Georgia called Graphic Communications. As our final project, we were asked to choose a festival anywhere in the world and make a creative campaign around it. I chose the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. I was drawn to the vibrant colors and the potential for whimsical and creative content, and I made it my goal to bring magic to the festival.​

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For this campaign, I chose to use a hand-painted effect and pastel, peaceful visuals to execute my goals. Although this festival has become a huge extravaganza, it started in 1972 with thirteen balloons being launched from a parking lot. I wanted to reference back to its roots with a handmade quality, as well as represent the dreams the founders had for this festival with the otherworldliness of the design.

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Overall, I am incredibly proud of the results that became of this campaign. I am incredibly satisfied with the aesthetic and consistency of this work, and for it being my first creative campaign, I could not be more happy with how it turned out.