Above With so many other festival sites out there, Gewest13 were determined to do something a bit
different to help hold a visitor’s interest
How we built
There’s nothing quite like a
good music festival and Solar
Weekend is definitely one of the best.
Hidden away in the sleepy rural town
of Roermond, about 40 minutes from
Eindhoven in the Netherlands, it not
only brings together the biggest names
of the moment in house, techno and
hip-hop but it also has a uniquely
imaginative and boundary-pushing
vibe. Each year, 800 creative people
and artists contribute to the festival
with art games, beautiful buildings
and playful theatres, as well as the
legendary water gun battle with
thousands of participants.
For the 15th anniversary of the
festival, Eindhoven design agency
Gewest13 was tasked with translating
the special feeling of Solar Weekend into
digital form for its website: no easy task.
Here, creative director and owner Tom
Eele, designer and creative developer
Rob Smittenaar, creative developer Ruud
Luijten and designer Barend Eijkenduijn
explain how they went about it.What did the client want to achieve
with this site?
TE: The briefing we received for the
development of the anniversary website
for Solar was very minimal. We have
been working for Solar for years so we
know what the festival stands for and
what makes it unique compared to others.
Solar is built every year by hundreds of
creative people and consists of four days
of art, fun and games, beautiful hand-
made buildings, theatre and, of course,
great music. In terms of vibe, it looks a bit
like Burning Man but on a smaller scale
(25,000 people) and next to the water.TOM
EELE
Eele is creative director
and owner at Gewest13.
He previously worked at de
Rechter, Centagon BV and
Euroforum BV.ROB
SMITTENAAR
Smittenaar specialises in
visual design and front-end
development. He’s worked
with clients like Watson/DG
and Sony Pictures.RUUD
LUIJTEN
Luijten is a creative
developer. He is interested
in creating beautiful,
engaging and fun interactive
experiences for the web.BAREND
EIJKENDUIJN
Eijkenduijn is a designer. Self-
taught, he started designing
aged 13 and graduated last
year in media and design at
SintLucas MBO in Eindhoven.TIMELINE
Key dates in the
Solar Weekend Festival projectDECEMBER 2018
First artwork sketches are delivered
by Solar.
JANUARY 2019
Gewest13 delivers feedback on the
artwork and makes a few suggestions.
Starts experimenting with horizontal
scrolling. Designs phase one of the
website: the artist overview page and
ticket pages. Conducts internal user
testing with the designs.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019
Develops phase one of the website.
19 FEBRUARY 2019
Line-up announced. Ticket sales go live.
MARCH 2019
Begins design phase two (the other
pages), tests them internally and makes
minor alterations.
APRIL 2019
Develops phase two, which goes live.
MAY 2019
Adds the 15-year-anniversary page.
JUNE 2019
Monitors the site, makes adjustments.
AUGUST 2019
Festival month!