I’m not sure how I stumbled onto the creative genius of
Jose Llopis, but I think he reached out to me on Twitter. As a result, I had a chance to check out his designs on his website.
As they say in Spain, the rest is historia.
Jose is a Spanish designer, 29-years-old and living in Valencia, which is east of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. Jose designs posters for communication campaigns that are very connected to the world of opera. He also designs book covers for several publishing houses, his other passion. He has cultivated a worldwide clientele from Valencia: theaters in The Netherlands, conductors in US, opera festivals in Italy, orchestras in New York, publishers in Germany and Spain. He even developed branding for companies in Ontinyent (the village where he was born).
When did you begin designing opera marketing collateral?
I started designing opera posters in 2007. It was my final project after finishing studies of design in Arts and Crafts School. I contacted the marketing department of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Opera House of Valencia), and I developed a proposal design of that season. The complete team of Palau were excited with my proposal and asked me the posters for next season. When everything seemed to be going well, due to political reasons of the Palau, they left me, and started working with another designer. That was a pity. But also, it was my beginning as a designer for the opera wo
Do you do other pieces besides posters or is the poster design incorporated into the programs?
It depends on each work. I prefer the projects where I can also design the brochures, postcards, flyers . . . because I take care that the campaign image is implanted correctly. Although sometimes I create the image of the communication campaign, and then, the client adapt it to the different communication supports.
Why did you start working with opera marketing materials? Are you an operagoer? Your design is so smart that it suggests that you are.
I started with opera materials for two reasons. Firstly, I’m connected with classical music and lyrics since I was a child, when my father often listened to them at home. That was when I started to love opera. And, secondly, I always knew I wanted to design posters. And a teacher, (today a friend) suggested me to design opera posters. Then, you get involved with the rest of marketing materials as part of the communication campaign.
I’m not exactly an oper
How do you decide what materials to use in your 3-D, mixed-media approach, for instance, the heart made of raspberries for Don Giovanni.
The materials used in my posters are defined by the creative concept I develop for each work. For selecting the concept, I have no concrete method. Depending what am I looking for the concept, I find the materials. A walk by the mountain, buying at the supermarket, having dinner with friends, or walking with my girl, are good moments to find and select the materials.
