Scottish Opera faced concerns about being perceived as too high-brow and elitist, which contradicted their stated aim of making opera accessible to everyone. In response, they initiated a rebranding exercise in 2008.
My approach to the brief was a playful pitch submission based on the well-known saying,
'it's not over till the fat lady sings.' This solution didn't take itself too seriously and little bit of self-deprecation perfectly embodied the goal of making Scottish Opera more approachable and accessible.
The 'fat lady' motif offered flexibility, allowing its application across a wide range of collateral, from posters to gift shop bags, and it would quickly become iconic.
Ultimately, Scottish Opera didn't adopt this pitch submission. However, I still include it in my portfolio because I believe it was an exceptionally strong response to their brief. A self belief that is borne out by the fact that over the years, this work has proved one of the most popular projects amongst viewers of my portfolio.
