The Barbican – largest performing arts centre in Europe. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982, it is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation, the third-largest arts funder in the United Kingdom.

Forming part of a three year campaign, we needed to express classical music in a new, exciting way that effectively conveys the emotional experience of attending a concert.

Research suggested that The Barbican’s communications lack openness and personalisation. Firedog’s solution was the “Dreamscape”, a series of landscapes reflecting the intensely diverse imaginative and emotive reactions upon listening to classical music at The Barbican. To signify this breadth, we juxtaposed images of jarring, urban structures with softer, natural landscapes. While the images retain soft hues of brown, lilac and light blue, each reveals the use of dense materials such as concrete or steel to offset this contrast. We achieved the Dreamscape through using multiple-exposure techniques to create a series of surreal images, illustrating an ethereal place that has been created in the mind of the audience.  Using “real people” for the photo shoot enhanced the authenticity we were aiming for and we designed, illustrated, and post-produced everything within the Firedog studios.

The end campaign has been applied to 255 posters across 129 London Underground tube stations, as well as local media, animation and advertising.