The summer of 2023 witnessed an electrifying renaissance in the UK’s festival scene. From iconic staples like Glastonbury to serene local celebrations nestled in woodlands and valleys, the energy across the nation pulsed with renewed enthusiasm. With the long shadow of the pandemic finally receding, crowds gathered not just for the sonic experiences, but for the vibrant creative atmospheres that now define modern festivals.
Among these, the Green Man Festival, located in the awe-inspiring Black Mountains of Powys, Wales, stood out as a multi-sensory extravaganza that masterfully fused music, science, art, and culture. A true bastion of inclusivity and artistic exploration, the festival has become a cultural pilgrimage for those seeking more than just performances. In 2023, its visual reawakening came under the stewardship of the imaginative and genre-defying artist, Murugiah, whose surrealist interpretations lent an extraordinary new dimension to Green Man’s identity.
The Cultural Tapestry Behind the Art
In today’s increasingly globalised art landscape, few creators channel multiculturalism as vividly and authentically as Murugiah. A multidisciplinary artist based in London, his work exists at the intersection of personal identity and shared symbolism. With roots extending from Burton-on-Trent in England to Newport in Wales and a family heritage from Sri Lanka, Murugiah brings a deeply layered sensibility to every piece he creates. This tri-cultural lens has shaped a body of work that defies simple categorisation—his illustrations are not just visual stories, but emotional landscapes reflecting the nuance of diasporic existence.
Murugiah's oeuvre is known for its otherworldly essence—blending kaleidoscopic colours, abstract anatomy, and fantastical geometry into pieces that evoke a surreal dream state. At its core, however, lies the foundational theme of identity. “My starting point is always identity,” he explains. “It’s about interpreting the multiplicity of who I am and what that means visually.” His visual grammar marries Eastern iconography and Western folk traditions, positioning itself as both a personal archive and a public offering. With Green Man Festival 2023, this deeply introspective approach took centre stage, transforming a beloved event into a transcendent cultural encounter.
Taking the Initiative: A Self-Driven Collaboration
Unlike conventional partnerships where artists are sourced through agencies or brand proposals, Murugiah’s journey with Green Man began from a place of passion. He proactively reached out to the festival organisers, expressing his desire to contribute. This wasn’t a cold business pitch—it was an artist seeking to align with a cultural experience he had long admired. Growing up near the festival grounds, Green Man held a nostalgic significance for him, and the opportunity to shape its visual world felt more personal than professional.
The festival's creative team provided him with a rare and liberating brief: minimal direction, maximum freedom. Such open-ended collaboration required mutual trust, especially since Murugiah’s style is anything but conventional. He proposed radical departures from previous branding strategies—ideas that initially challenged traditional expectations. But through conversation and compromise, a unified vision emerged. The result was a cohesive identity that celebrated risk-taking, celebrated multiculturalism, and above all, captured the festival’s unique spirit.
Revitalising an Icon: Reworking the Green Man Logo
The first step in reshaping the festival's aesthetic was a reimagining of its most recognisable visual symbol: the Green Man logo. Rich with mythological connotation and environmental allegory, the logo has historically symbolised rebirth, connection to nature, and the cycle of life. Murugiah viewed it as both a challenge and an opportunity. His reinterpretation preserved its essence but infused it with new vibrancy. He introduced volumetric geometry, softened angularity with fluid curves, and applied luminous gradients that evoked celestial bodies and astral dimensions.
This transformation wasn’t merely cosmetic. It laid the groundwork for the entire visual ecosystem of the 2023 festival. The logo was no longer a static emblem—it became a generative source from which all other design elements could grow. Murugiah developed a comprehensive set of visual rules based on shapes, rhythms, symbolic motifs, and chromatic resonance. “Once the design system was set, it turned into a creative playground,” he noted. The updated Green Man did not simply adorn posters and merchandise—it reframed the identity of the entire event, acting as a symbolic gateway into a shared narrative experience.
Illustrating Atmospheres: Eleven Distinct Festival Zones
Among the most ambitious undertakings was the creation of eleven bespoke illustrations for different zones throughout the festival grounds. These areas each served unique purposes—some dedicated to music, others to science, spirituality, families, or culinary indulgence. The challenge was to make each zone visually distinct while ensuring that the collective body of work felt harmonised and interconnected.
Given that Murugiah had never attended Green Man prior to this project, he had to rely on deep research, imagination, and intuition. He immersed himself in maps, past photographs, folklore surrounding the Black Mountains, and conversations with the organisers to build emotional profiles for each space. The resulting illustrations became vivid portals—one might suggest a cosmic observatory, another a forest inhabited by laughing deities, and another a floating village on a spiral of water and light. Each drawing invited viewers to explore not just a physical space, but a conceptual realm where creativity bloomed in unexpected forms.
These illustrations became essential to wayfinding, stage design, and storytelling throughout the festival. They were integrated into site maps, signage, digital guides, and print materials, enhancing not only the utility but the ambiance of the event.
Animating Identity: Digital Design and Web Interactivity
Understanding the importance of a strong online presence in shaping anticipation and engagement, Murugiah extended his visual storytelling into the digital sphere. For many festival-goers, the website served as their first encounter with the 2023 design language. With that in mind, he carefully crafted web assets that conveyed warmth, curiosity, and interactivity. A standout feature was an original animated character—a flower-headed figure adorned with headphones, joyfully roaming the screen in a whimsical dance.
He also created a unique homepage header illustration, vibrant lineup frames for performing artists, and scrollable border elements that changed with each click. These weren’t just decorative features—they were an invitation into the world he had created. The digital space became an extension of the festival’s physical terrain, establishing continuity and depth that helped build emotional investment before attendees even set foot on the grounds.
Murugiah ensured that every detail, from type treatments to iconography, felt like part of a living, breathing organism. The result was a user experience that was both artistically rich and functionally intuitive.
Design in Motion: From Static Prints to Festival Merchandise
As his visual universe expanded, it naturally flowed into physical objects—festival merchandise, stage visuals, promotional materials, and on-site installations. Murugiah’s illustrations adorned everything from printed wristbands and lanyards to reusable stack cups and collectible programs. The merchandise was not simply branded; it was transformed into wearable or functional artwork. Festival-goers didn’t just consume visuals—they became part of them.
To push the boundaries even further, Murugiah collaborated with the animation studio Plastic Horse and Green Man’s internal creative directors, Many Hands. These partnerships brought his still compositions to life in rich loops and transitions that played between stage sets, during performer changeovers, and across LED installations. While his direct involvement in the animation was limited to preparatory work, the final results stunned even him. The movement, pacing, and sonic syncing elevated the visuals from static design to performative spectacle.
Attendees responded enthusiastically, snapping selfies with murals, collecting illustrated merchandise, and interacting with augmented elements throughout the festival. In this way, Murugiah’s artwork didn’t just tell a story—it created an immersive narrative ecosystem that the audience could physically and emotionally inhabit.
Personal Pilgrimage: Experiencing the Festival as a Creator
For Murugiah, the culminating experience was not just seeing his designs come to life but experiencing the festival through the lens of an attendee. Despite living nearby during his formative years, 2023 marked his inaugural Green Man Festival as a guest. “They were kind enough to provide extra tickets so I could bring friends,” he shared, “and that made it even more meaningful.”
His presence was far from passive. He wandered through the curated realms he had visualised, reconnected with the landscapes that inspired him, and engaged with festival-goers who had unknowingly become participants in his artistic world. Moments of quiet reflection occurred between crepes at the Mountain Stage, and he found joy in discovering his work unexpectedly—on someone’s arm in the form of a temporary tattoo or dancing on the screens of a performance tent.
This full-circle moment solidified the emotional gravity of the project. For Murugiah, it was not merely a job fulfilled—it was a return to roots, a reclaiming of space, and a celebration of the self in all its complexity. His work was no longer confined to studios or galleries. It breathed in open fields, echoed through soundwaves, and pulsed in time with human connection.
Designing Distinct Zones: Eleven Realms of Expression
Among the most expansive and creatively demanding aspects of the Green Man 2023 project was the crafting of eleven unique festival zones, each needing its own distinct atmosphere while still resonating with the overarching artistic language Murugiah had constructed. These areas were more than physical destinations on a map—they were narrative-rich ecosystems infused with intention, each telling its own visual tale.
These included immersive science spaces pulsing with kinetic energy, tranquil family-friendly zones echoing the playfulness of childhood, and contemplative wellness areas that invited inner reflection. Each required not just aesthetic appeal but psychological depth. Murugiah approached these illustrations as story-worlds, imagining each as a standalone realm while ensuring their visual DNA flowed from the same imaginative source.
Despite never attending Green Man before this commission, he dove deep into research—studying aerial photographs of the site, past visitor testimonials, and the symbolic language rooted in Welsh landscapes and Celtic folklore. He supplemented this with inspiration drawn from Eastern philosophies and fantastical architecture, allowing him to transcend literal interpretations and instead construct visionary environments that expanded the festival’s mythos.
Characters, textures, and structures emerged from this creative fusion. Some zones were adorned with celestial creatures balancing on swirling staircases, while others featured glowing flora, watchful spirits, or pathways guarded by hybrid beings. These imaginative renderings became a source of exploration, inviting festival attendees to interpret and interact with the visuals in their own way. The complexity of each scene ensured that even a passing glance revealed something new, cultivating curiosity and immersion.
Once finalized, these area illustrations became embedded across all festival touchpoints. They appeared on printed materials like guidebooks and signage and were transformed into digital formats—interactive maps, welcome pages, and mobile navigation tools—all echoing Murugiah’s unified vision for the festival’s visual ecosystem.
Digital Characters and Online Aesthetics
Murugiah’s work didn’t stop at traditional mediums. Understanding the power of first impressions in digital spaces, he extended his visual language into the Green Man Festival’s online presence. For many attendees, the festival website was their first contact with the 2023 design direction—so this portal needed to reflect the same level of imagination, interactivity, and enchantment as the physical space.
He developed a range of bespoke digital assets designed to transform the browsing experience into something experiential. These included whimsical character animations, illustrated headers, interactive lineup frames, and animated border elements. A standout creation was the character of a headphone-wearing flower, personified as a frolicking spirit that danced across various screens and interfaces, providing an unexpected and charming presence.
Each visual served a purpose beyond aesthetics—it built trust and excitement. By crafting a cohesive digital environment, Murugiah blurred the boundary between screen and site. The online platform functioned as an imaginative prelude to the festival itself, priming visitors with the energy and mystique of what awaited them in the Black Mountains.
Moreover, each interactive design choice was made with user experience in mind. Navigation elements, dropdown menus, and stage schedules were imbued with subtle animations and vibrant themes that matched the festival's overall narrative arc. Visitors weren’t simply scrolling through information—they were journeying through an online dimension of the Green Man universe.
These elements were essential in ensuring brand consistency, keeping the festival identity cohesive across print, physical installations, merchandise, and digital interactions. The website became not just a tool but an immersive chapter in the festival’s unfolding story.
The Statement Piece: Reimagining the Line-Up Poster
If there was one pièce de résistance that encapsulated Murugiah’s vision for Green Man 2023, it was the lineup poster. Often treated as a functional document, this year’s poster transcended that expectation and transformed into a visual totem—a dreamscape of mythology, symbolism, and personal heritage.
Breaking away from conventional layouts, he opted to centre the poster around a modern mythological reimagining of the Green Man character. The primary inspiration was drawn from the Bhavachakra, or the Wheel of Life—a symbolic Tibetan painting that encapsulates the cyclical nature of existence. This spiritual iconography was melded with elements from Celtic traditions, resulting in a Green Man figure reimagined not as a solitary forest entity but as a cosmic guardian of life’s interconnected paths.
Arms spiraled outward, each limb entangled with flora and fauna drawn from multiple cultural motifs. The central yellow disc—glowing like a miniature sun—represented life force, consciousness, and regeneration. Around this focal figure orbited an ensemble of fantastical beings: some inspired by Buddhist thangka art, others borrowing from medieval Welsh bestiaries.
Each element was deliberate. The characters were not random flourishes but allegorical actors, placed to suggest motion, interaction, and transformation. Murugiah’s use of intricate patterns, layered symbolism, and juxtaposed references turned what could have been a static announcement into a living document—a metaphysical window into the festival’s soul.
It became an immediate favourite among fans. People shared it online, framed it after the festival, and used it to visually commemorate their experiences. The poster’s success lay in how it fused personal and universal themes, bridging tradition and invention with clarity and emotion.
Translating Vision Into Tangible Design
After completing the major illustrations and poster, Murugiah’s artwork began appearing across Green Man’s tangible, everyday materials. These included guidebooks, site maps, fold-out schedules, reusable cups, staff passes, and even temporary tattoos. Each item echoed motifs from the central art pieces while adapting them for functional formats.
This process of visual distillation—extracting thematic essence and applying it to objects of utility—required careful modulation. A pattern that captivated on a poster needed simplifying for a wristband. A creature in motion had to be still enough for a program cover. Murugiah navigated this process with precision, ensuring that every iteration felt consistent with the wider identity.
These physical extensions of the brand became keepsakes, not just tools. Attendees interacted with his designs constantly—drinking from illustrated cups, navigating stages with printed guides, identifying staff by lanyards bearing his iconography. The tactile presence of his art enriched every layer of the festival, embedding his surreal language into the lived experience of thousands.
Each of these components helped reinforce the brand’s visual integrity, giving Green Man a unified, multidimensional identity across every visible surface. The result was a festival that looked, felt, and functioned like a singular artistic universe.
Animating the Experience: Collaborative Motion Design
To amplify the impact of his designs further, Murugiah partnered with the animation studio Plastic Horse and the in-house visual direction team Many Hands. Together, they transformed still imagery into fluid, expressive animations that were displayed throughout the festival on LED screens, stage monitors, and digital projections.
Although his direct involvement with the animators was limited to preparing files and guidance, the animations retained the magic of his original vision. Celestial beings floated in slow rotation, symbolic wheels turned in time with ambient music, and colour gradients pulsed with hypnotic rhythm. These moving visuals didn’t compete with the musical performances—they complemented them, extending the emotional arc of each set.
The integration of these animations into the stage environments helped deepen the festival’s immersive quality. As artists tuned their instruments or DJs prepared their decks, attendees were enveloped by slowly shifting visuals that held their attention, nurtured anticipation, and visually narrated the transitions between performances.
The animations also gave Murugiah’s designs another life—one that existed in real-time, activated by movement and sound, experienced not just visually but emotionally. They acted as visual interludes that kept the momentum of the event alive, weaving silence, spectacle, and stillness together in seamless harmony.
Experiencing the Festival Through the Artist’s Eyes
For Murugiah, one of the most meaningful parts of this journey was attending Green Man 2023 in person. Despite his Welsh upbringing, this was his first time physically present at the festival—an irony not lost on him. Walking through the grounds he had imagined in his studio months before was a surreal experience. The hills, tents, stages, and crowds were now brought to life with his visual fingerprints across them.
His favourite memories came from the small moments—meeting festival-goers who unknowingly wore his artwork, discovering someone admiring a cup or map he had designed, and enjoying crepes near the Mountain Stage while watching his animations on-screen between acts. These personal encounters helped him understand the real impact of his work, not through metrics or reviews, but through laughter, compliments, questions, and shared memories.
There was also the quiet satisfaction of seeing his vision executed faithfully by the festival team. From large format banners to digital interfaces, his designs had been respected, reproduced, and celebrated. The alignment between idea and execution made Green Man not just a successful project—but a defining milestone in his creative evolution.
Looking Forward: The Legacy of Visual Storytelling at Green Man
Though the festival is a temporal event, its legacy is carried in the visuals that define each year’s memory. Murugiah’s work will be remembered not just for its aesthetic power, but for its intention and integrity. It didn’t just decorate the festival—it deepened it. It invited people to feel something, to question symbols, to connect emotionally with patterns, colours, and forms.
Looking ahead, Murugiah hopes Green Man continues its commitment to reinvention. He has expressed interest in seeing future artists reinterpret the identity he helped reshape—offering the canvas of the festival to new voices, fresh imaginations, and different cultural lenses.
As festivals evolve to become more than just gatherings for sound, the role of visual storytelling will only grow. Green Man 2023 proved how design can elevate atmosphere, foster emotional resonance, and become an indispensable part of the audience’s collective memory. Through Murugiah’s eyes, the Green Man didn’t just return to the mountains—it transformed into a beacon of myth, spirit, and boundless creativity.
From Screen to Stage: Merchandise and Motion Design
Once the core artwork had been finalised, Murugiah’s illustrations began to unfold across the physical and digital layers of Green Man Festival like a visual symphony. His intricate designs, rooted in surrealism and cultural hybridity, were not just printed on promotional material—they were woven into the very fabric of the festival. Each item became a living artefact, carrying fragments of the central artwork while adapting to various formats and functions.
Program booklets morphed into curated journals of exploration, filled not only with artist information but with hidden details embedded within the illustrations—symbols that hinted at deeper narratives. Wristbands and lanyards became wearable art, their patterns serving as cryptic extensions of the main poster’s mythos. Even stackable cups, often overlooked as utilitarian objects, were adorned with cyclical designs that echoed the concepts of repetition and renewal found in the Bhavachakra-inspired poster.
To further elevate the experience, Murugiah collaborated with the motion design team at Plastic Horse and the in-house art direction group Many Hands. Their goal was to bring his static compositions to life without compromising the spirit of the original work. While Murugiah’s direct involvement was largely limited to preparing layered files and visual references, the resulting animations captured the kinetic energy of his style with uncanny accuracy.
Animated loops appeared between musical sets, transforming LED stage screens into portals of swirling colours, mythical beings, and surreal landscapes. These transitions didn’t just fill time—they added an ethereal ambiance that softened the space between sound and silence. Each loop breathed movement into his illustrations, creating ephemeral moments of immersion that audiences connected with emotionally, not just visually.
The seamless integration of animation, print, and merchandise ensured that the festival’s visual identity remained coherent across every medium. Whether dancing under the stars or browsing the merchandise tent, attendees were constantly surrounded by a living, breathing universe that had emerged from one artist’s singular vision.
Living the Experience: Attending Green Man 2023
Though Murugiah’s artwork had covered the festival, 2023 marked his first time stepping onto the grounds of Green Man as a participant rather than an outsider. This shift from creator to attendee offered a rare dual perspective—one that revealed how deeply his illustrations had permeated the environment. As he wandered through the festival alongside friends, he encountered his work in countless forms, from signage and merchandise to animations playing between headline sets.
For Murugiah, the journey was not simply professional—it was deeply personal. The festival site, nestled in the Black Mountains near where he spent his formative years, held both geographic and emotional resonance. What had begun as an artistic endeavour had transformed into a profound act of reconnection with place, memory, and community.
His daily rituals became emblematic of the immersive design ethos he had helped create. He visited the Mountain Stage repeatedly, not just to enjoy the music but to savour a favourite crepe and watch how the crowd interacted with the visual installations. He danced at Chai Wallas, observed joyful chaos in the family zones, and discovered temporary tattoos featuring his characters on the arms of smiling festival-goers.
“There’s always anxiety,” he noted, “about how your designs will be interpreted once they leave your control. But when I saw how they were printed, displayed, and embraced—it was astonishing. Every detail had been honoured.”
The physical manifestation of his work and the audience’s enthusiastic response served as a powerful affirmation of his vision. It validated the belief that art, when woven into a shared experience, can transform not just a space—but the people moving through it.
Evolving the Aesthetic: Future Outlook for Green Man
Even amid the resounding success of the 2023 edition, Murugiah remained grounded in his artistic philosophy: transformation is essential. He expressed his hope that Green Man continues to evolve visually, embracing new voices, new aesthetics, and unexplored narratives in future years. Festivals, in his view, should never become visually stagnant—they should mirror the fluidity of culture and reflect the dynamism of the creative community.
He has already begun recommending other artists who could take the reins for future editions, suggesting that a rotating visual identity keeps the festival fresh, experimental, and relevant. Each iteration should serve as a new chapter, allowing audiences to engage with changing perspectives while maintaining the emotional core that defines the event.
Although Murugiah’s direct involvement with future editions remains to be seen, his 2023 contribution has set a benchmark. His approach showed how a multidisciplinary artist, guided by both personal history and collective symbolism, could craft an identity that felt timeless yet urgent, fantastical yet rooted in reality.
The success of his work proves that festival branding is not just an accessory—it is a vehicle for storytelling, a tool for connection, and a powerful instrument for cultural reflection.
Symbolism and Storytelling in Artistic Branding
What set Murugiah’s Green Man designs apart was not merely their visual allure, but the depth of meaning woven into every stroke, colour, and character. His background in architecture, graphic design, and fine art enabled him to build layered compositions that operated on multiple levels—symbolically, emotionally, and narratively.
At a glance, his artwork offered spectacle: swirling patterns, surreal faces, dreamlike landscapes. But upon closer inspection, viewers discovered deeper themes—rebirth, interdependence, ancestral memory, spiritual curiosity. His visual language, influenced by South Asian cosmology and Celtic mythology, was not chosen for aesthetic effect alone; it was a deliberate act of cross-cultural storytelling.
Through this fusion of motifs, he turned the festival into a kind of pilgrimage—not just a journey through music stages, but through realms of imagination, memory, and myth. The inclusion of the Bhavachakra-inspired figure in the lineup poster, for example, was not just symbolic of the cycle of life—it was also a reflection of Murugiah’s inner world, grappling with identity across geographical and cultural boundaries.
This emotional honesty made the work resonate. It allowed attendees to find their own interpretations within the visuals, to project their personal narratives onto the festival’s shared canvas. In this way, the designs transcended their decorative function and became vessels for collective meaning.
The Role of Visual Language in Festival Identity
In an age where festivals compete not just through lineups but through brand personality, the importance of a distinctive and authentic visual language cannot be overstated. Murugiah’s work for Green Man 2023 redefined what a festival aesthetic could achieve. It created an immersive universe, where every design decision contributed to a coherent story and emotional atmosphere.
The logo wasn’t just a symbol—it was an invocation. The stage visuals weren’t just transitions—they were emotional bridges. The merchandise wasn’t just memorabilia—it was art that could be touched, worn, and taken home. Every interaction with the festival became a brush with art, making the experience holistic and unforgettable.
His ability to balance function with imagination, clarity with complexity, is what made the branding so successful. It not only guided the festival-goers through the terrain—it expanded their perception of what a festival could feel like, encouraging exploration, engagement, and reflection.
The Lasting Legacy of Green Man 2023
Though Green Man 2023 was temporal, its impact will be enduring. Attendees left not only with musical memories but with visual imprints—scenes, symbols, and emotions tied to the artwork that framed their experience. For Murugiah, it marked a transformative moment in his career: a fusion of place, personal identity, and professional mastery.
The festival became a canvas for everything he stands for—cultural fusion, imaginative storytelling, and visual experimentation. And in doing so, it offered a new paradigm for how festivals might approach creative direction going forward.
This legacy is not just artistic—it is emotional, communal, and deeply human. It shows that when artists are trusted with the soul of an event, the results can be extraordinary.
Final Thoughts:
Murugiah’s visual identity for Green Man 2023 wasn’t just about creating beautiful graphics; it was an immersive act of storytelling that brought deeper meaning to every corner of the festival. Through an intricate blend of personal heritage, cultural symbolism, and visual experimentation, he redefined what it means to design for a music and arts event in the modern age. This project was not merely an illustration commission—it was a deeply layered artistic offering that resonated with thousands of attendees and set a new benchmark for festival branding.
By fusing elements of Eastern spirituality and Western folklore, Murugiah created a dynamic language that transcended borders. His use of vibrant colours, surreal characters, and mythological influences brought a renewed sense of wonder to the Green Man experience. It invited audiences to engage not only with the music but with the overarching narrative of the festival’s ethos—one that champions inclusivity, creativity, and emotional connection.
What makes this collaboration particularly meaningful is its autobiographical dimension. For Murugiah, it was an opportunity to represent the multitude of identities he inhabits: British, Welsh, Sri Lankan, artist, dreamer, and storyteller. The project allowed him to reflect on his roots while projecting his imagination into a shared cultural space, inviting festival-goers to see the world through his unique lens. His reimagining of the Green Man symbol—blending Tibetan philosophy with Celtic myth—was a poetic manifestation of this worldview, offering a new visual mythology for a modern audience.
Moreover, the real-world impact of the work was undeniable. From merchandise and stage visuals to animated installations and the digital interface, his creations were present at every touchpoint, enhancing the atmosphere and elevating the festival to an experience that felt curated, cohesive, and emotionally rich.
As we look toward future editions of Green Man, this chapter in its visual history will stand as a vibrant reminder of how transformative creative freedom can be. It’s a case study in how visual artists, when given trust and space, can help shape the soul of a cultural event. Murugiah’s work for Green Man 2023 will not only be remembered—it will continue to inspire what comes next.
