Ludd and Isis

Ludd and Isis, the two gods of the River Thames, clash over Purfleet’s destiny. Should it be a haven for pleasure and recreation, as it once was, or is the river the key to industry and development, with its bridges, power stations and freight? In the struggle to persuade Isis that the new Royal Opera House Production Workshop is so much more than a factory, Ludd takes us on a theatrical journey through Purfleet’s long and chequered history to discover that its true spirit must lie in the marriage of art and industry.

Working very closely with the marketing and design team at the Royal Opera House, alongside the local community of Thurrock, this opera is a community developed project involving more than 1,000 primary, secondary school and college students as well as local residents of all ages.

Our task was to develop the visual brand of the opera. The title of the opera needed an exceptionally strong and well thought out identity. Local college students came up with the concept of the two contrasting elements of industry and development for Ludd versus water and nature for Isis. So from this brief we then had the task of visually interpreting this into a strong dynamic graphic style that would be featured on posters and marketing materials including the main Royal Opera House website.

The end result a complex logo that works well as a flat graphic or is really brought to life when layered and worked up in Photoshop and 3D with the elements perfectly visualised by the rusty, tough bold aged metallic graphics for Ludd and the watery (complete with barnacles) flowing typeface for Isis.

The characters of Ludd and Isis also take on an ethereal role, hiding in the background, illuminated in a godlike / angelic /ghost like way with their costumes actual photographic versions of the real stage costumes….