aka creates Royal Opera House Autumn programme designs

The designs used on the season brochures will also be seen across all other printed collateral, advertising, hoardings and online platforms, which also use video content to further develop the concept. aka was appointed to the project following a creative pitch last October.

The consultancy worked with photographer Kevin Macintosh and production designer Daryl McGregor on the project. aka also created the ‘One Extraordinary World’ strapline.

Matt Dixon, creative director of aka, says, ‘We wanted to bring a new audience to opera, drive ticket sales and open it up to people who wouldn’t normally consider opera and ballet, who perhaps see it as prohibitive or they can’t identify with those artforms. We wanted to open it up through storytelling.’

The imagery is influenced by ‘contemporary fashion and production values’, according to aka; and the visual concept aims to represent ‘the moment between heaven and hell, love and loss, and darkness and light.

Dixon says, ‘We wanted to bring people into the story through the images. The photography is beautiful and it has to align itself to fashion – it’s a very contemporary way of image making.’

‘We’ve deconstructed the stories and the traditional interpretation of ballet: we distressed the tutu and burnt the edges. We’re drawing on themes across the whole season programme with aesthetic juxtapositions with the darkness and light – as well as themes of love and death and life and loss. All these fit in with the One Extraordinary World umbrella device.’

Caroline Bailey, Royal Opera House director of marketing, says, ‘[The campaign] had a very contemporary, high fashion and yet fantastical feel to echo the range and depth of the Royal Opera House’s productions whether here at the Royal Opera House or in one of our Live Cinema relays around the country.’

The campaign launches at the beginning of July.