Project Overview
Apart from a niche ‘club’ of long term opera devotees, opera has long been perceived as boring, stuffy, elitist, homogenous, inaccessible and overly expensive by most people.
As Australia’s national opera company and resident at the Sydney Opera House, Opera Australia produces over 600 performances each year; from mainstage opera seasons in Sydney and Melbourne to more unexpected locations like harbours, beaches, city streets, remote towns and school halls. Interbrand were asked to breathe new life into their brand to attract new audiences.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Executive Creative Director: Chris Maclean
Associate Design Director: Ami Gainford
Senior Designer: Eric Ng
Senior Writer: Lex Courts
Strategy: Rebecca Lester, Doug Nash
Management: Damian Borchok, David Storey, Jaime Laird
Photography: Georges Antoni
Project Brief
With opera ticket sales in decline the world over, Artistic Director, Lyndon Terracini, made a bold programming move, and set the organisation in a new direction throughout 2012 with a vision to play to more people, put on more performances, play in more locations, and have more variety.
However, a disparate approach to communication, use of overly intellectual language, no identity system other than a logo, and a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) approach to photography meant that the Opera Australia brand lagged this new direction, continuing to alienate the new audiences it desperately required to survive.
Project Innovation/Need
In order to match this new direction, the brand needed to set both the company and opera itself free from the preconceived ideas that defined the art form. Creating a brand that was magnetic, boundaryless and one that broke expectation at every opportunity was not only our brief, it was imperative.
We developed a recognisable yet flexible verbal and visual identity system that represented the brand while being able to pull the different dimensions of opera apart, representing Opera Australia as multi-dimensional. We devised an identity system that could open opera up, expanding to contain the rich and diverse range of activities the organisation represents, whilst creating a unifying, clear and cohesive system for what was once a schizophrenic, chaotic brand.
Through the use of imagery and language, we widened the gamut by introducing genres to opera, showing that not all operas are the same. Moreover, we used this new tonality to educate people and communicate that it’s ok to be a beginner at opera.
In addition, the brand was developed for the digital world, allowing the most appropriate medium to be used when engaging new audiences: video, digital, web, podcast, animation.
Design Challenge
What was once a disparate portfolio of logos and sub brands, the new brand identity system for Opera Australia has allowed them to cohesively represent their sub brands, products and services, and their principal partner sponsorship relationship with Mazda. Through an elegant solution, they have created far more attribution to the master brand, and a greater level of understanding on the role Opera Australia plays.
Effectiveness
Far from being one-dimensional, opera is a cavalcade of experiences – the costumes, the sets, the stories, the music, the emotion, the stars, the venues. To stay alive, Opera Australia needed space to breathe, and a platform to share these experiences with all Australians.
We launched the new brand with the 2014 Season. And while the rest of the world’s opera companies are in decline or near closure, Opera Australia has not only maintained sales, but are now above expectations. Opera Australia are now have a brand that matches their business, ensuring they are well equipped in their mission to set opera free.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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