Chicago Summers

When you actually find some free time in your over-strenuous schedule and can walk away from your desk, where do you find yourself? Lounging around at home catching up on your favorite episode of Glee? Playing some softball in the park? What about going to one of the many music festivals that are held every summer in Chicago? There is no doubt that music plays a big role in the lives of Chicagoland residents. As I spoke in my last blog post, music is a huge part of my life, so I attend many concerts and festivals every year.

There are a vast variety of different music festivals in the Chicago area that you can attend, no matter what genre you’re partial to. One of my favorite aspects of these festivals and concerts are the amazing posters that designers produce for them. It seems like the majority of people who aren’t designers simply look past these posters. I stumbled upon a website that compiled a good amount of recent posters. A lot of these posters are simply beautiful, and have expressive formal elements in many different ways. It seems as though designers really have the opportunity to express themselves freely when designing something for a band or event.

Not only do I find the designs inspirational, but the bands and events that are the subject matter are usually something to get excited about. It seems that most of the bands that have these nicely designed posters are not the typical radio popular music, which leaves a lot of room for experimenting expressively. So if you’re looking for something to inspire your everyday life, break out and take a listen to some of these bands.

If you think you would enjoy going to some festivals this summer, I will list out some of the most popular ones. There is usually something for everyone.

There is the ever-popular Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Pitchfork in Union Park, The Taste of Chicago down Michigan Avenue, Division Street Festival (which actually just passed), Warped Tour in Tinley Park, Wicker Park Fest on N Milwaukee Avenue, Summerfest in Milwaukee, and of course Jazz Fest and Blues Fest.

Most of these events have a pretty impressive lineup of bands, definitely good enough to force you to get away from your desk and enjoy a beautiful summer in Chicago. Whether your a designer or not, everyone can appreciate a well designed poster of your favorite band. Even if you don’t enjoy going to some of these festivals, at least check out some of the beautiful things created for the bands. I have listed only a few events in the Chicago area, are there some that you have discovered recently that I didn’t mention? Possibly something in the suburbs, or even further?