The Sleeping Beauty

A world suspended between enchantment and shadow

When the Australian Ballet brought their season of The Sleeping Beauty to Carnival Studio, the brief was to create campaign imagery worthy of one of the most visually opulent works in the classical repertoire. Working closely with the Ballet’s own creative leads, we developed a rich, dreamlike visual world that felt both timeless and distinctly theatrical.

At the heart of the campaign is an ornate framing device drawn directly from the physical set design – reworked and reimagined as the visual architecture of the entire campaign. It gives every piece a sense of place, as though each image exists within the production itself rather than simply advertising it.

The campaign spans a hero ensemble key art featuring the full cast, alongside six individual character posters – Blue Bird, Carabosse, Aurora, Lilac Fairy, Flower Garland, and the Prince – each with its own mood and presence while remaining unmistakably part of the same enchanted universe. A custom 3D title treatment, developed from supplied vector artwork, completed the suite and added the campaign’s final layer of craft.

The work brought together portrait photography by Simon Eeles, set photography by Daniel Boud, meticulous retouching by Nic Greene, and 3D modelling and renders from Thom Shillinger – all under the art direction of Demi Hopkins.