Event Design: Opera Parallèle Gala – Come Fly With Us
Visual Branding and Event Collateral for Opera Parallèle’s Annual Fundraising GALA
The Challenge: Designing a Jet-Age-Inspired Gala That Honored Opera Parallèle’s Spirit of Innovation and Storytelling
Opera Parallèle invited me to brand their premier fundraising gala around the theme “Come Fly With Us” — a concept that promised to soar, quite literally. Initially, the vision leaned into the mid-century airline era, with ideas inspired by Pan Am, sleek terminals, and jet-set nostalgia. But as the creative process unfolded, the direction shifted. The client sought something less commercial and more poetic — a story-driven identity that would honor their spirit of innovation, narrative exploration, and artistic sophistication without being confined to the Jet Age. They weren’t exactly sure what the look should be — and wanted to explore visual directions before committing. The challenge became crafting a concept that could evolve fluidly while remaining anchored in emotion, elegance, and imaginative lift.
The Approach
My role was to develop a visual brand system that blended mid-century airline culture, like Pan Am and TWA, with the expressive modernism of Opera Parallèle. I presented a range of visual directions, each one anchored by the gala program cover, which would become the most widely used design asset during the performance. Through the collaborative design process, the client ultimately decided to move away from the commercial Jet Age concept and toward a more poetic theme that felt aligned with the spirit of the event and its logistical needs.
The Execution
Visual Identity & Print Collateral: Created a complete event design system — from large-scale signage and program layout to custom illustrations — that reflected the final concept’s tone of poetic flight and wonder.
Program Book Design: Designed a 28-page print program using illustrated motifs and a clean, editorial layout structure to guide readers through the evening’s performances, live auction bidding lots and acknowledgments.
Event Graphics and Signage: Delivered supporting environmental graphics and signage to bring the event to life throughout the venue, maintaining consistency and magic across all visual touchpoints.
Event Design Print Production: Prepared all files for flawless output—including a CMYK-optimized 28-page booklet for offset printing and signage assets built to spec for large-format digital production.
CLIENT
Opera Parallèle
SCOPE OF WORK
GALA Event Design
Logo/Branding
28 Page Program Booklet
Invitation & Donor Cards
Signage
A Rare Glipse Into My Design Process
Early Explorations: Three Concepts Before Takeoff
An inside look at the creative runway.
It’s rare for designers to share the early stages of concept development, but in this case, I felt the process itself was worth showcasing. The evolution of the design offers inspiration—not just for clients navigating creative decisions, but also for young designers learning how ideas take shape.
Concept 1: “OP Airlines as an Identity”
What if Opera Parallèle was an airline? With the theme “Come Fly With Us” and the additional tagline “Up Close and Parallèle” as fixed parameters, I developed a campaign that treated these phrases as branded airline slogans. The concept envisioned a fictional OP Airlines, complete with a streamlined visual identity that played on mid-century airline aesthetics.
Design explorations included a custom logo, a stylized boarding pass which served as their invitation to the event, and a proposed program cover — all featuring bold, symmetrical layouts, clean typography, and a structured, campaign-style presentation. This direction leaned into mid-century graphic design sensibilities to give the gala a polished and fully branded presence.
Concept 2: “OP Airlines – Pan Am Edition”
Continuing the airline-as-brand concept, this direction took inspiration from the iconic elegance of Pan Am. Shifting away from the bolder, red-toned feel of TWA or United, I reimagined the visual language in a cooler, more refined blue motif — evoking a softer, more glamorous era of air travel.
The suite included a refined OP Airlines logo, a ticket-style invitation, and a concept for the program cover. This version maintained the structured clarity of the previous design but introduced a more relaxed, upscale tone — a nod to the leisurely sophistication of Pan Am’s golden age.
After presenting both concepts above the client provided feedback
“We love these concepts, but after internal discussions, executing OP as an airline on a large scale would cost more than anticipated, so we’d like to pivot slightly — and we truly appreciate the designs.”
While this concept reflected earlier creative direction provided by the client — including specific design notes that leaned into the airline theme — it became clear during internal discussions that the logistics of fully executing this vision would be more complex than anticipated. The immersive staging, costuming, and environmental elements required to bring the concept to life would place too great a demand on the event budget. Though they remained enthusiastic about the concept’s creativity and tone, they ultimately decided it wasn’t the right fit for this year’s production timeline and resources.
It happens. Concept 3 Here We Come!
Concept 3: “Logo Lock-up with Universal Flight”
As we pivoted away from the stylized “OP Airlines” identity, we collaborated on something with a wider lens — a more universal take on flight. This concept focused on creating a cohesive event identity by locking up both slogans — Up Close and Parallèle and Come Fly With Us — into a single logo system, framed by a global illustration and elegant plane arc.
The tone became more refined and open-ended: less about commercial air travel, and more about perspective, elevation, and the idea of a journey — presented by Opera Parallèle.
Feedback: “Great! We’re Close! But Can It Feel Less Commercial and More Poetic?”
Yes It Can Feel More Poetic!
I leaned even further into imagination, nostalgia, and visual softness.
I evolved the lockup once more — replacing the sleek jetliner with a whimsical propeller plane, inspired by the Amelia Earhart era. The globe gave way to hand-illustrated, puffy clouds, bringing warmth and wonder to the composition. The bold red aircraft remained as a visual anchor, now soaring through a more storybook sky.
This revision brought us closer to the heart of the final identity — one that embraced lift, legacy, and lyrical design in a way that felt uniquely Opera Parallèle.
Final Design: “This is it! Just soften the clouds and whatever else you think it needs as a final polish.”
I revised the illustration to feature more whimsical, gently drifting cloud forms, while keeping the same vintage-inspired line work and propeller plane motif. The updated artwork retained all the charm and lyrical tone of the previous version, now with a simple whimsical cloud, and “s” curve flight path.
This final lockup became the heart of the gala’s identity — a visual system that was rooted in story, elevated by nostalgia, and designed to stir wonder. Paired with thoughtful layout, color, and type, the hand-drawn sky and red plane invited guests to come fly with Opera Parallèle — not just to an event, but into an imaginative world above the clouds.
The client was thrilled with the final direction and expressed deep appreciation for the collaborative process, the flexibility throughout each iteration, and the care poured into every detail of the design.
Ta Da!
Flip Through the 28 Page Program Booklet
Letterhead
22×28 Signage
Sponsorship Opportunities
Donor Cards 5×7
Reflection
This project was a joy to design — not just for the aesthetic, but for the creative runway it offered. I was able to explore narrative branding in a tactile, immersive way. From first sketch to final print, the process was a true collaboration between vision, typography, and storytelling, in the open skies. We moved away from clean commerical airline branding and toward a softer, more illustrated approach — one that evoked wonder and the golden age of flight, with a hand-drawn sky and a red plane soaring into the unknown.
Somewhere at 30,000 feet, I still imagine how immersive the full airline experience with boarding passes and vintage uniforms could have been. I’ll always be partial to the Jet Age. But in the end, the journey we charted together led to a result that truly resonated.
Client Testimonial
“Troy brought an extraordinary level of vision and dedication to this project. His designs captured the spirit of our gala in such a beautiful and imaginative way — the campaign truly set this year apart. Not only did the visuals elevate the experience for our guests, but we also saw a record turnout and exceeded our fundraising goals. His work made a meaningful impact from start to finish.”
— Nicole Paiement, General & Artistic Director, and Conductor – Opera Parallèle
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