Hat Trick produce a superb new identity for the Welsh National Opera

The biggest problem with opera is accessibility. Visiting the opera is an exclusive event in your social calendar for which you’ll need to iron your whitest shirt, press your tuxedo or don the most spectacular dress you can lay your hands on. You’ll also need to set aside some budget for champagne; opera doesn’t happen without champagne. Opera’s like the wealthy, stuck-up cousin of musicals, or at least that seems to be the perception. In actual fact it’s as gritty, filthy and exciting as your favourite soap or drama, spanning the whole range of human emotions and dealing with a myriad gripping story lines.

Keen to emphasise the passionate and expressive nature of its productions the Welsh National Opera have approached Hat Trick Design to brand their 2013/14 season in the most visually arresting way they know how. Taking a newly-commissioned Howard Hodgkin painting as a starting point the identity utilises swift, purposeful brusk-strokes in a rich colour palette to bring WNO to life. These marks appear throughout the identity, swathed across the season programme and emblazoned on the company’s own logotype.

Whether this vibrant new look will drive more people to the opera remains to be seen, but as far as communicating the raw energy of a large-scale musical performance goes, we think Hat Trick have done a tremendous job.