BTS Boston ARMY Concert Fan Project
Role
Lead Graphic Designer
BTS Boston ARMY
Timeline
Spring/Summer 2026
6 Months
Scope
Print Design · Event Design · Social Marketing · Illustrator · Photoshop
A fan-funded banner designed for BTS's first-ever sold-out Boston show at Gillette Stadium. 50K fans raised it together in one coordinated moment, carrying a message BTS could see from the stage.
For BTS's first-ever show in Boston, BTS Boston ARMY wanted to bring an iconic Korean concert tradition to the stadium: a fan banner project.
Fifty thousand fan-funded banners, raised together during the song "Into the Sun," gave Boston fans a way to come together and show the members just how excited the city was to welcome them.
As the lead graphic designer for this project and BTS Boston ARMY’s design admin, I led the banner from first concept to final print file, collaborating closely with our admin team at every stage.
Overview
Objectives
Fan banners come down to one moment. The design had to mean something to the fans holding it, while working within real limits.:
Represent BTS visually without using official photography while symbolizing the only New England tour location
Give Day 1 its own identity, distinct from the Day 2 banner (Arirang Tour Themed using the red color scheme)
Deliver a Korean message accurate enough to land with the members and fans all over the world coming to Boston
Create a keepsake fans would want to hold up, photograph, and keep
Process
My first experience with a banner project in Seoul at the TXT concert in 2024.
Day 2’s banner project design and concept representing BTS’s Arirang branding.
Rooted in K-pop concert culture: banner projects are a staple of K-pop concerts, to give fans a moment to surprise the artist.
While studying abroad in Seoul, I saw firsthand how those banners turned whole stadiums into one beautifully coordinated moment.
I spent time researching past banner projects around the world for different Kpop groups. I paid attention to the copy and hierarchy as well as noted how important symbolism to the specific group was.
Research + Insights30+ different concepts across visuals, typography and layout. I led the visual execution, turning shared ideas into designs we refined together.
Early directions leaned on photography, including a "mirror" concept pairing the members today with their debut era a well as more recent photography featuring their post-hiatus energy.
Explored visual symbolic references that ARMY would recognize instantly, including the Big Dipper, whales, wings, a hot air balloon, and a lighthouse.
The concept that stuck with the team was the boat from the "Swim" music video from their newest album, carrying silhouettes of all seven members and representing the group's return together.
IdeationSilhouettes kept the members instantly recognizable while removing copyright risk.
Moving to a sunset gave Day 1 its own identity and grew our purple into a full sunrise color palette.
The front and back felt disconnected so to make it more cohesive, the continuous sunrise gradient allows two fans to connect their banners side by side.
Met with native Korean speakers to make sure the slogan message read naturally and accurately, not just translated.
Final design went through hundreds of mini refinements to type, layout, texture, and color before going to the final print stage.
Feedback + Refinement
To build momentum online, the project rolled out in stages from the announcement in February, fundraising opening in May, the design reveal in July and the concert in August.
The admin team handled the logistics, sourcing the print shop and organizing volunteers to get every banner printed and ready.
BTS Boston ARMY hosted its Festa Fair in July, where the admins and I handed out the banners to the fans as the first look at the design out in the world (and with the BTS ARMY fans!)
Concert day brought venue worries and missing volunteers, so the admins handed out banners across the stadium ourselves before the show started.
Everything came together in time, and fans raised them together perfectly
LaunchEvery element throughout the design intentionally celebrates BTS and the journey fans have shared with them.
Front: a Korean slogan message telling the members that fans will always stay and support them (even through their military service and a 3 year group hiatus)
Back: "Swim" music video boat carrying the member silhouettes into a purple-to-sunrise sky, plus the date, venue, and printed instructions cueing fans to raise the message once the song begins
The Arirang album's circle logos as the moon, a seven-star constellation for the seven members, and a lighthouse as a nod to New England
The front and back join into one connecting sunset gradient
The Final Design
50k banners printed, with 90+% sucessfully passed out to fans
$7.5K+ raised from 300+ donors, 100% fan-funded. Every admin volunteered their time, and every dollar went to printing, transportation, and storage.
Half our goal funded in a day, and fully funded in about a week.
The Scale
During the show, several members pointed, smiled, and squinted to read the banners, and 2 members sent hearts back to the fans.
Thousands of fans posted pictures with the banner, complimented the design (in person and online) and kept the banner as a keepsake.
1.2M+ views on the BTS Boston ARMY account in the 30 days leading up to the show, plus 1K+ new followers
Announcement post: 16K+ views
First funding post: 37K+ views
Design reveal post: 42K+ views
The Reach
Setbacks can lead the concept. Losing official photography felt like a setback at first, but it pushed us toward silhouettes and symbolism, and every element ended up carrying more meaning because of it.
Leading design means guiding many voices toward one vision. With admins brainstorming and designing alongside me, my role was turning shared ideas into one cohesive direction, and the final banner was stronger for every perspective that shaped it.
The real audience was the community. I expected the highlight to be BTS seeing the work. Instead, it was watching thousands of fans connect their banners, take photos with strangers, and carry them home as keepsakes.
Key Takeaways
Thousands of fans posted pictures with the banner, complimented the design (in person and online) and kept the banner as a keepsake.
During the show, several members pointed, smiled, and squinted to read the banners, and 2 members sent hearts back to the fans.
