Glyndebourne Festival Illustration 2019

Glyndebourne Festival Illustration 2019

A set of illustrations created for the 2019 Glyndebourne Festival and Tour. The illustrations are a combination of collage, painting, and drawing, bringing together diverse visual elements to create a rich and immersive identity for the season. These artworks formed the visual identity for the festival, appearing prominently in Glyndebourne programmes, on the website, and across various promotional materials.

A Bold New Visual Identity

The 2019 Festival artwork marked a bold departure from Glyndebourne’s traditionally photograph-led marketing approach. In previous years, visual materials had focused primarily on staged opera photography, capturing key moments of performance. This new visual identity, however, embraced a more surreal and imaginative style, blending intricate collage, detailed painting, and expressive drawing. It was a testament to Glyndebourne’s confidence in pushing creative boundaries that they embraced such a distinctive and unconventional direction.

The illustrations introduced a dreamlike, almost fantastical interpretation of the Glyndebourne experience. Rather than simply showcasing staged productions, the visuals sought to encapsulate the atmosphere, energy, and sensory richness of the festival itself—an opera season renowned not just for its world-class performances, but also for its unique setting, traditions, and audience experience.

Festival Cover Image

The cover image established the surreal, collage-based aesthetic that would define Glyndebourne’s Festival and Tour in 2019. It combined elements of the opera house’s iconic gardens and grounds with imagery representing musicians, performers, and picnicking audience members. This created a layered, dreamlike tableau that reflected both the grandeur and intimacy of the festival.

More than a simple depiction of the event, the image was infused with a playful and imaginative spirit. It incorporated whimsical elements such as foxes, badgers, and other wildlife dressed in evening wear—an unusual but fitting nod to the elegant yet natural surroundings of Glyndebourne. Interwoven throughout the composition were isolated eyes, mouths, and ears, subtly reinforcing the sensory experience that opera provides. This aspect of the design drew influence from surrealist collage artists such as Fred Tomaselli, whose works often incorporate fragmented human features to create evocative, dreamlike imagery.

Additionally, there was an underlying inspiration from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, not just in the grand scale of the composition but in the way multiple figures were intricately arranged within a cohesive yet complex visual narrative. The layering of figures and architectural elements echoed the sense of movement and storytelling seen in large-scale frescoes, reinterpreted through the contemporary lens of painted collage.

See the artwork in the original Glyndebourne Tour 2019 brochure

An example of the artwork still in use on the website.

La damnation de Faust

(Berlioz)

Il barbiere di Siviglia

(Rossini)

Cendrillon

(Massenet)
See the artwork in use

Rusalka

(Dvořák)

Die Zauberflöte

(Mozart)

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Included in the Tour set are:

Tour Hero Image

This approach carried through to the Tour Hero Image, which centred around a grand, sprawling tree. The tree symbolises the way Glyndebourne’s operas extend beyond their home in East Sussex, reaching audiences in theatres across the UK. Its branches are filled with characters from the operas and members of the orchestra, seamlessly blending with the surrealist elements that define the season’s visual identity. The image reinforces the idea that the magic of Glyndebourne isn’t confined to one place—it spreads, grows, and transforms new spaces, much like the tour itself.
See the artwork in use

Rigoletto

(Verdi)
See the artwork still in use

L’elisir d’amore

(Donizetti)

The Client’s Response

‘The artwork is lovely and really goes very well with our concept. Once again we are thrilled by the beautiful artwork created by the design team which includes so much of our dramaturgy.’

Andre Barbe
half of the design / directing duo Barbe et Doucet for Die Zauberflöte / Magic Flute

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‘these are AMAZING! Thank you so so much!’

Louise Williams
Head of Marketing (2018)

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‘Everyone loved your creative – thank you for all of your efforts on it.’

Charlotte Alldis
Marketing Manager

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Full image credits

Festival
Festival cover image: painted collage by Shadric Toop / source images from Sam Stephenson, James Bellorini, Leigh Simpson and Wikimedia Commons
La damnation de Faust: painted collage and original photography by Shadric Toop / other source images Wikimedia Commons
Il barbiere di Siviglia: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source photography by Bill Cooper / other images Wikimedia Commons
Cendrillon: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source photography by James Bellorini / other images Wikimedia Commons
Rusalka: original photography and painted collage by Shadric Toop, source photography by Bill Cooper
Die Zauberflöte: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source images from Wikimedia Commons
Tour cover image: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source images from Shadric Toop, Mike Hoban, Alastair Muir, Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash
Festival Brochure design: by Ned Campbell

Tour
Rigoletto: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source images from Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash
L’elisir d’amore: painted collage by Shadric Toop, source images from Mike Hoban, Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash
Tour Brochure design: by Kate Benjamin