What does the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) have in common with the Dave Matthews Band, Ray LaMontagne, Bonnaroo, Converse, and Mountain Dew? We’ve all been lucky to work with Matt Fleming, a talented graphic designer and illustrator based in the Pacific Northwest who has created art for some of the world’s best known musicians, festivals, and brands.
When we revamped GABF 2026, we knew it was time for a fresh visual vibe, and Matt was the person for the job. Matt created the poster art for this year’s festival, which serves as the base for our overall branding, from website to signage. Read on for a peek into Matt’s creative process!
Q: What was your initial inspiration for the poster art, and how did you translate that idea into the final design?
A: With GABF being outdoors, it was clear that nature and the venue had to play some kind of role. So we aimed to give the art an open, airy feel, and capture the grassy field, bright blue sky, and sun you can experience on the perfect autumn day. With that as a basis, we could then start adding other elements that felt relevant to the event and the region.
Q: When approaching this project for a long-standing event like GABF, how did you balance the festival’s existing identity with your own artistic style?
A: It’s important to find that happy medium of something that feels uniquely created for an event, but also stay true to something people consider familiar such as logos and event names. When I was working on concept sketches I used the existing color palette of blue and gold so there would be some consistency between the branding and the illustration. From there, I added darker and lighter hues to give it a richer palette. I also like figuring out how to simplify objects when drawing them, which worked out well in this case because the illustrated elements would all need to be scalable so that the GABF team could use them beyond the poster.
Q: Were there any specific details in the poster that people might not notice at first glance?
A: The initial draft of the poster had some hops floating in the air, but we ended up turning them into trees, so that’s a nice touch hiding in the background. Aside from that, we included some pretzels to pay homage to the pretzel-loaded necklaces that folks wear at the event, and the local legend Blucifer shooting lasers from its eyes.
To see more of Matt’s work, follow him on Instagram at @matthewjay.