Experiential / Festival
RiSE Festival
Immersive desert festival reimagined with a more emotional and cinematic digital experience.
industry
Experiential Events & Festivals
project Type
Website Redesign — Internal Project
goal
Clearly communicate a new, expanded experience to partners and sponsors
built With
AI-assisted design and build
Background
Built from the inside.
RiSE wasn't a client project — it was built from the inside.
Swift Builds co-founder Dan Hill co-founded RiSE in 2014 and led it as CEO and CMO for over a decade, growing it into one of the most iconic experiential events in the world.
For the 10-year anniversary, we didn't want to repeat ourselves. We expanded the experience — added a stage, brought in world-class artists, and turned RiSE into a full evening journey.
The Challenge
What we were solving for.
The challenge wasn't the event — it was explaining it.
We needed partners and sponsors to immediately understand what had changed and why it mattered.
Previous storytelling leaned heavily on emotion and imagery. This evolution required clarity.
The Approach
What we did.
- 01Shifted from abstract storytelling to a sequential narrative — the site walks users through the experience step-by-step
- 02Structured the flow as a clear sequence: arrival, build-up, performance, lantern release, closing
- 03Instead of asking people to interpret the event, it shows them exactly how it unfolds
- 04Stripped the messaging down to be simple, linear, and easy to understand
- 05Positioned the site as a communication tool for partners, not just a marketing page
Key Sections
The details.
Opening Sequence
The page opens with a quiet provocation — 'Some gatherings entertain us. Some change us.' — over a desert sunset with lanterns rising.
Three-Act Narrative
The experience unfolds in three acts — Arrival, Reflection, Release — each with immersive photography and poetic captions that mirror the event's emotional arc.
The Release
The climactic lantern release is presented with full-bleed night photography — thousands of lights ascending — creating a moment of digital awe.
Mobile
Most traffic is mobile.
The experience holds up.
The vertical scroll format translates naturally to mobile, where the cinematic imagery fills the screen and the narrative pacing feels even more intimate.
Result
What changed.
- —Partners and sponsors could immediately grasp the new experience without a deck or call
- —The sequential narrative gave the expanded format a clear, communicable structure
- —Positioned the site as a business tool, not just a marketing page
- —A more premium, intentional feel that matched the event's 10-year evolution