Jurassic Lounge

What if dinosaurs never actually went extinct – they just moved to Newtown?

Since 2010, Carnival Studio has been the creative force behind Jurassic Lounge, the Australian Museum’s iconic after-hours event that transforms one of Sydney’s most beloved institutions into a playground for curious adults. Think silent discos under whale skeletons, surprise pop-ups around every corner, live taxidermy demonstrations, and the freedom to wander the whole museum – craft beer in hand.

Our creative concept is beautifully simple: what happens when inner-city hipsters and prehistoric creatures share the same world?
The result is a series of deadpan diorama-style tableaux – frozen moments of humans and dinosaurs going about their coexistence with total nonchalance. A couple taking selfies with a pterodactyl on a clifftop. A DJ sprinting from a very enthusiastic raptor. Someone attempting, with dubious success, to tame a triceratops.

Each poster is a fully constructed world. Talent photography, CGI dinosaur builds, and complete environmental diorama design come together in elaborate composites that play on the visual language of classic natural history displays – only weirder, funnier, and decidedly more Darlinghust. Every image is finished to the highest standard for OOH, large format, and digital advertising across Sydney.

Fifteen years and more than twelve posters later, Jurassic Lounge is a genuine Sydney cultural institution – and the dinosaurs are, somehow, still the coolest things in the room.