El Kid
Created to introduce young audiences to the passion and drama of opera, El Kid is a mash-up of the classic Billy Goats Gruff and Carmen, all wrapped in colour and humour.
Dean was commissioned by Opera Australia to create the key imagery, for application across a range of media.
As the first of a series, the mandatories were a strong, minimal colour palette, clean dynamic shapes, and broad colour field areas for text placement. The production was made to travel, with performances in major metropolitan venues, as well as rural and urban schools and civic venues.
The commission enquiry came when I was literally on the ferry to Tasmania's famed MONA galley (do yourself a favour, take the posh pit option!) but fortunately carrying a sketchbook and, ok, a champagne, and jotted some initial thoughts and sent to the client. A smooth process, and seemed to hit the right note.
Had a quick punt at type for the project as well, just for fun. (the designers already had a style for the series set, however)
