Design Brief Letter

Royal Opera House
Bow Street
London
WC2E 9DD
(Insert School Address)
February 2018
Dear Designer,
My name is Kevin O’Hare and I am the director of The Royal Ballet.
I’ve heard that you have been learning about the story of Swan
Lake at school, and that you’ve had some interesting ideas about
how you might design the set for a Royal Opera House Swan Lake
production. I am writing to ask you to take part in my Design
Challenge, where school children like you all over the country will
be designing and making a model box for a scene from Swan
Lake. Follow my design brief carefully, as the school with the
winning entry will be invited to Covent Garden to see Swan Lake
and have a backstage tour of the Royal Opera House!
Director’s Design Brief
You’ll need to produce a portfolio showing your creative ideas for Swan Lake- I hear that
you have made a start on that already. At the end of the project, I’d like you to make your
design in a model box.
In order to be a finalist and have a chance at winning the
competition, your design must:
• Be the correct scale for the ballet dancers
• Be practical- the dancers need to be able to get on and
off the stage!
• Be exciting and original
• Tell a story
Dancers need to have room to dance and move around the stage so make sure you leave
enough room for them to do that! And remember - real designers will try out lots of ideas
before they choose the best one. It’s important that you play around with your design
ideas and experiment with materials. I’ll need to be able to see that you’ve done this by
looking through your portfolio, for you to have a chance at winning the competition! Your
portfolio is every bit as important as your finished model box.
The very best of luck to you all. I can’t wait to see your designs and choose the winner.
Yours sincerely,
Kevin O’Hare