ISLAND — Summer Festival 2024

Creative Direction, Concept & Experience Design

Ha’il, Saudi arabia

Desert landscape at dusk illuminated with colorful neon lights shaping cacti and desert plants.

Project overview

A destination-scale summer festival conceived to redefine Ha’il’s cultural landscape. Set within the desert and rocky mountains, ISLAND merges contemporary art, spatial design, performance, and commerce into a visually iconic experience—positioning the city as an emerging cultural destination on an international stage.

Context & Vision

As part of Ha’il’s broader transformation into an international tourism and cultural destination, ISLAND was developed to elevate the standard of public events hosted in the region. Created in collaboration with Bedayet Fekra and supported by the Ha’il Region Municipality, the project aimed to introduce a new benchmark for large-scale cultural programming—one capable of standing alongside globally recognized festivals.

The vision was to design an experience that could shift perception: transforming Ha’il into a destination associated with contemporary culture, artistic ambition, and visually powerful public experiences.

Colorful outdoor festival setup with pink, blue, and orange umbrellas, tents, and decorations amid rocky terrain with pink flowering trees.

Colorful, iridescent palm trees and large crystal-like structures in a desert landscape under a blue sky with clouds.

Red rock formations with green palm trees in a desert landscape.

A desert landscape with large rocky mountains under a clear blue sky, a small body of water in the foreground, and a few people near the water.

Creative concept

Photograph of a desert landscape with saguaro cacti at sunset, with digitally added semi-transparent rectangles in various sizes over the scene.

The creative direction centered on designing a festival environment built for impact, symbolism, and virality. At the core of the visual language were custom-designed cactus installations—abstracted desert symbols reimagined as contemporary sculptural artworks.

Constructed from intersecting translucent acrylic planes and illuminated from below, each cactus functioned as a standalone art piece. Engineered to interact with natural and artificial light, the installations transformed throughout the day, shifting in color, shadow, and intensity from sunrise to night. This temporal design encouraged visitors to return at different times, turning the festival into a living, evolving environment rather than a static event.

The cactus forms served both as cultural reference and futuristic reinterpretation—rooted in the desert while presenting a new visual language designed to be instantly recognizable and globally shareable.

Colorful glowing rectangular blocks arranged in a descending order on a sandy desert with a twilight sky in the background.

An outdoor stage with colorful lighting and glass sculptures in a desert landscape with rocky formations and a blue sky.

Four tall, rectangular glass sculptures shining in the desert at sunset with the moon visible in the background.

Colorful glass panels arranged upright in a desert landscape with mountains in the background, illuminated by sunset.

Colorful illuminated acrylic and glass sculptures resembling a cityscape with tall, vibrant skyscrapers, set against desert rocks and cacti at dusk.

Sandy desert with wind-shaped dunes and digitally added neon green cactus silhouettes in the foreground.

Colorful glass sheets on sandy ground outdoors, reflecting the sky and surrounding environment.

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The sculptural language

The sculptural language of ISLAND was developed as a system of contemporary art objects rooted in desert symbolism. Custom-designed cactus forms were constructed from intersecting translucent acrylic planes, transforming a familiar natural element into an abstract, architectural presence within the landscape.

Illuminated from below, each installation functioned simultaneously as sculpture and light instrument. Designed to respond to changing conditions, the forms shifted in tone and intensity throughout the day—engaging with sunlight, shadow, and artificial illumination. This temporal quality allowed the environment to continuously evolve, positioning the festival as a living landscape rather than a fixed installation.

Experience
design & Programming

A person performing fire breathing, creating a large flame with fire exiting their mouth at night.

Beyond its sculptural identity, ISLAND was conceived as a fully curated cultural ecosystem. The festival brought together large-scale installations, international and regional artists, interactive workshops, live performances, fashion activations, and food and beverage concepts—each selected to coexist within a cohesive spatial and narrative framework.

Programming was designed to move seamlessly through the site, encouraging exploration and discovery. Art, performance, and commerce were intentionally interwoven, creating an environment where culture was experienced, consumed, and shared organically within the desert landscape.

Performers in gold costumes manipulating fire during a fire dance performance on a dimly lit stage.

Two digital art representations of ballet dancers with geometric mosaic designs, gold and silver tones, and intricate headdresses, posed gracefully.

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role & responsibilities

As Creative Director, I led the project from initial vision through concept development, spatial design, and experience strategy. My role encompassed both creative leadership and hands-on direction across disciplines, including:

Defining the overarching creative vision and narrative
Designing the festival’s sculptural and spatial language
Directing and supervising 3D designers and visual artists
Curating participating fashion, food, and cultural brands
Collaborating with entertainment agencies on stage programming
Developing presentations, brand assets, and concept imagery

This role required aligning artistic ambition with large-scale experiential planning to deliver a cohesive, internationally relevant festival concept.

Colorful infographic with Arabic text, featuring stylized winding paths in yellow and orange, cactus illustrations, and abstract shapes, indicating a project or event with various sections.

Multiple digital renderings of a futuristic, colorful booth design in pink and orange on a desert landscape at sunset, with the text 'Booth Design 1 ISLAND 2024'.

Technical drawing and colored rendering of a curved architectural structure with detailed measurements in meters, including front, side, and top views, and annotations in Arabic.

Three digital renderings of a futuristic orange and yellow booth design on a sandy desert landscape at sunset. The booth features bright lighting, curved walls, and a seating area. The text 'Booth Design' is partially visible at the bottom.

Design blueprint of a circular amphitheater or arena with detailed measurements, schematic side views, top views, and 3D renderings, including seating arrangements, VIP areas, and decorative cactus plants.

Selected visuals from the creative development of ISLAND, including concept imagery, spatial studies, and brand elements developed under creative direction.

Project Assets

Colorful sign with the Arabic word 'باب' (door) in purple, featuring abstract shapes, a purple cactus, and purple and green plants on a light purple background, mounted on a black metal barricade.

Three disposable cups with colorful, abstract, desert-themed designs and Arabic text on each. The cups have black lids and are tilted to the left against a beige background.

Two plastic badge holders with orange lanyards, each containing a card with colorful abstract shapes and Arabic text.

Colorful graphic icons of various cacti and succulents with the words "Graphic Icons" at the top.

Two tote bags with Arabic text, one plain and one with colorful abstract design, hanging on different backgrounds.

Billboard promoting a desert discovery event, featuring colorful cactus illustrations and Arabic text.

ISLAND was designed as an experiment in scale, symbolism, and cultural ambition—proposing a new visual language for public events in the region.

project status

The project reached advanced stages of creative development, with all visual systems, spatial concepts, and experience frameworks fully designed. Execution was postponed due to budgetary constraints; however, the complete creative direction, designs, and production-ready assets remain finalized.

A collage of four desert scenes showcasing various neon light art installations, including tall glowing sculptures resembling abstract figures and cacti, set against mountainous backgrounds at dusk and night.