BAND MERCHANDISE CASE STUDY - Country 2 Country Festival 2025
Band Merchandise: Festival Music Maps
I was recently commissioned by Countryline Radio to produce a unique collection of four maps as poster merchandise for the Country2Country (C2C) Festival 2025.
The Project - Band Merchandise Maps
CountryLine Radio approached me with a clear vision: to produce unique, collectable maps celebrating the headline acts of C2C Festival 2025, as well as a special ‘History of Country Music’ map. Each map had to be practical, memorable, and visually stunning—something fans would treasure long after the festival.
Design & Format
My distinctive Z-Fold format allows my band merchandise maps to fold neatly into an easy-to-carry size yet expand beautifully into a full A2 poster. Each map is encased within sturdy, elegant hardcovers, protecting the artwork and enhancing the overall presentation. Designed specifically with festival-goers in mind, these maps easily slip into a back pocket, ready for use at the event, and are equally suitable for framing as a lasting memento.
The Maps
Three Headliner Maps: Each map is dedicated to one of the festival’s headline performers, visually narrating the artists’ musical journeys. Albums, notable songs, collaborations, and career milestones are intricately laid out in my signature tube map style, capturing each artist’s unique story in a compelling visual format:
'The History of Country Music’ Map: This comprehensive map charts the rich history and evolution of country music, highlighting influential artists, landmark albums, and defining moments that shaped the genre. It serves as both a tribute and an educational piece, offering fans new insights into the music they love.
Practical & Collectable - Band Merchandise Maps
The beauty of these band merchandise maps is not only in their detailed artistry but in their practicality. Designed to be lightweight and compact, these items proved convenient for festival attendees to carry around, thereby enhancing their overall festival experience. Post-event, these maps transition seamlessly into beautiful framed artwork, ensuring lasting enjoyment and value.
Results & Reception
Feedback from CountryLine Radio and festival-goers alike was incredibly positive. The maps quickly became sought-after merchandise items, celebrated for their creativity and high-quality presentation. Fans appreciated the balance between usability at the event and collectability afterwards, which solidified the success of this merchandise line.
Why Maps?
My maps always combine detailed research, artistic craftsmanship, and practical use. For the C2C Festival, they did exactly that—offering a meaningful connection between music fans, their favourite artists, and the broader legacy of country music.
Ready to Partner?
If you’re a promoter, manager, or band representative, let’s explore how my distinctive art pieces can enhance your merchandise offering, both at gigs and online.
Contact me directly at mike@mikebellmaps.com
ABOUT MIKE BELL - TUBE MAP DESIGNER
Mike Bell Maps is my growing collection of tube map art prints that reimagine music, film, and culture through the visual language of underground maps. Each design presents albums in order, film plots, and complex creative histories as clear, engaging tube-style timelines created for fans who value depth and detail.
RESEARCH-LED DESIGN
Every artwork is built on original research and careful verification. Albums become stations. Musicians, characters, and ideas form connecting lines. This approach turns detailed information into visual storytelling, creating art prints that bring clarity and meaning to subjects people already care about.
MY STORY
My background is rooted in live sound and large-scale show design, working across music and cultural events for many years. That experience shaped how I understand collaboration, creative evolution, and structure. During lockdown, I applied that knowledge to mapping music and films, developing underground maps that balance accuracy, design, and narrative.
THE ARTWORK
Each print is produced to archival standards and designed to last. These are not novelty posters. They are considered art prints created for people who value music history, film structure, and informed design. They make thoughtful gifts for fans who want something personal, researched, and meaningful.
Mike Bell Maps is where research-led tube maps become art prints, and where stories worth knowing are mapped clearly, carefully, and beautifully.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What are Mike Bell’s tube map art prints?
A: My prints utilise an advanced visual language based on the logic of underground maps to organise complex histories. By moving beyond basic cartography, I transform albums into "stations" and musicians or themes into "connecting lines." This allows fans to explore hundreds of data points - from session musician credits to chronological collaborations - within a single, intuitive visual system.
Q: How do these maps differ from standard music or tube posters?
A: The primary difference is information density and quality. While standard posters are often low-resolution decorative pieces on thin paper (135-170gsm), my prints are research-led discographies printed on archival-grade, 305gsm+ heavyweight giclée paper. They are designed to be "read" like a book, rewarding deep curiosity with discoveries not found in mass-produced merchandise.
Q: How is the accuracy of the research verified?
A: Accuracy is the core of my design process. Every map is synthesised from primary sources, including official liner notes, session archives, musician interviews, and verified fan databases. By incorporating musician inputs and fact-checking against trusted archives, I ensure that each map is a historically accurate record of the subject’s career.
Q: What subjects are available in the collection?
A: The collection spans a wide range of cultural histories, including music discographies, film plots, politics, and Formula One. Each map focuses on a single narrative, presenting the whole "story" of a subject - such as the evolution of a band or the timeline of a sport- in a clear, high-density visual format.
Q: Are these prints produced sustainably?
A: Yes. I prioritise a carbon-neutral workflow by producing prints locally to the buyer to reduce the shipping footprint. I use sustainable wood frames and archival materials designed for 100+ years of colour stability, ensuring the art is a lasting investment rather than disposable décor.
Q: Why do these maps make the best gifts for music and film fans?
A: Unlike generic posters, these are bespoke cultural maps that celebrate a fan's deep knowledge. Because they are research-led and visually unique (featuring narratives not seen elsewhere), they offer a sophisticated, gallery-quality alternative for those who value the "deep dive" into their favourite artist or film.