Designing a new seasonal campaign to mark Sir Simon Rattle’s eight visionary years with the LSO, one of the most celebrated cultural icons in the world. Capturing the emotional power of classical music in an expressionist art piece.

LSO The Master Conductor

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#### In brief

Sir Simon Rattle is one of the world’s most celebrated music conductors. In 2017 he joined The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) as Music Director, bringing with him a vision to make classical music accessible to all. For the past eight years, our long-standing relationship with the LSO has seen us through the flourishing tenure of Sir Simon, starting with the design of the LSO’s award-winning identity to creating a multitude of seasonal campaigns, designed to capture the emotional power of classical music for a new generation.

As Sir Simon’s tenure with the LSO draws to a close, we wanted to create a campaign to celebrate his last stand.

To pay tribute to the grand finale of his time as Music Director, the 2022/2023 seasonal campaign needed to mark Sir Simon’s eight visionary years with the orchestra that transformed the LSO into one of the most celebrated cultural icons in the world.

Our vision was to represent the full range of his performance record from the last eight years with a masterpiece made from his music.

#### What we did

To pay tribute to Sir Simon’s artistry, for this season’s theme, we drew a poignant parallel between the different worlds of classical music and visual art. Both have a rich history, collectively built from the work of creative geniuses, and both have an integral place at the heart of culture. Combining the two, we created a new collection of digital art entitled: The Master Conductor.

Inspired by our creative approach of the LSO masterbrand, we used motion data to capture the shape of Sir Simon’s movement during a concert performance to reflect the emotional power, texture and motion of music.

Working with digital artist, Ari Weinkle, we transformed Sir Simon’s gestures while conducting Bartók’s ’The Miraculous Mandarin’ into an expressive art-piece: painterly in texture, just like expressionist art, and sculptural in physicality. Following his dramatic hand movements, the piece builds an image of music using the conductor’s baton as a paintbrush, reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s movement, that gathers intensity until the piece’s crescendo. When the music reaches its climax, the sculpture that has been created liquifies and falls to the floor, symbolic of the ending of an era. A finale fitting to this iconic figure in the global culture.

In our expression, we wanted to balance the dynamism of Sir Simon’s movement with data generated fluid stimulations, creating a photo-realistic aesthetic by using a multitude of materials: from nearly opaque black and blue glass to surfaces that absorb and scatter light, creating the masterpiece rich in its individual expressions.

The campaign marks the end of an era for The London Symphony Orchestra, with the film premiered at the Barbican Centre, the home of the LSO in London, and on digital and social platforms. The stills from the film composed with typography were designed for the season’s communications, including seasonal brochures and London tube advertising, all created to continue to inspire new audiences with the power of music through design.



To pay tribute to Sir Simon’s artistry we drew a poignant parallel between the different worlds of classical music and visual art. Both have a rich history, collectively built from the work of creative geniuses, and both have an integral place at the heart of culture. Combining the two, we created a new collection of digital art entitled: ‘The Master Conductor’, a digital masterpiece made from music.

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Design Bridge and Partners | LSO The Master Conductor

Superunion and Design Bridge come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

Design Bridge and Superunion come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

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LSO The Master Conductor

Designing a new seasonal campaign to mark Sir Simon Rattle’s eight visionary years with the LSO, one of the most celebrated cultural icons in the world. Capturing the emotional power of classical music in an expressionist art piece.