Seán Corcoran Series

The Seán Corcoran Series returned to Drogheda in celebration of the life and enduring legacy of local folk musician and song collector Seán Corcoran. The festival offered an extensive and varied programme, grounded in tradition yet invites experimentation, and deeply rooted in a sense of place.

The festival’s closing event, the Mummers’ Ball, along with the distinctive straw costumes of the mummers, became the conceptual point of departure for the visual identity. Illustrations depicting mummers in the guise of a horse and an oversized wren in carnival procession were rendered in a way that echoes the texture and construction of the straw costumes themselves. The tension between a sober, elegant illustrative style and the inherent absurdity of the subject matter closely aligned with the festival’s vision. Interwoven with the fluid lines of the illustrations, moments of sharp geometry emerged, forming an underlying grid that structured the typography across posters and digital assets. The new logotype and typographic system drew on the visual language of 1970s folk horror—most notably The Wicker Man—subtly recalling the era of Seán Corcoran’s musical career.

Additional illustrations were developed in the same linear style to represent other events and facets of the festival, including the Opening Concert and the Heritage Day programme. A1 and A2 posters were distributed throughout Drogheda, while a comprehensive digital rollout extended the identity across social media through a suite of event-specific templates. The festival website was similarly reskinned, integrating the new logotype, typography, colour palette, and illustrations into a cohesive visual system.