Daniel Cooper ZarzaInfo
Feed Overview
I’m a London-based designer and art director working across large-scale cultural projects. I bring a strong research focus to each brief, using critical thinking to shape work that feels purposeful and distinctive. My practice spans graphic design, stage design, set build and crew management. I began my design training at Chelsea College of Art and Design, and later completed an MSc in Urban Studies at University College London, where I developed a deeper research approach that continues to guide my work today.

Live at Worthy Farm

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Glastonbury Festival held a five hour journey across their world famous site. I worked alongside Block9 to deliver the ‘after-hours’ finale for the show, intended to capture the spirit of the festival’s ‘South East corner’; synonymous with dance music and late night debauchery. Inspired by M25 parties and free party culture, the finale featured performances from Honey Dijon and Roisin Murphy set within a woodland clearing. My role within the project spanned the design and art direction of the set, as well as managing the build crew on site.
Director: Paul Dugdale DoP: Brett Turnbull, James Rhodes Executive Producers: Emily Eavis, Nick Dewey, Paul Dugdale, Ric Salmon Producer: Amy James Set Design: Block9 Lighting Director: Tim Routledge Musical Direction: WFB Live Production: Driift, Glastonbury Festival All images: ©David Levene and ©Anna Barclay
 

Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054


Filmed during the UK’s second national Covid-19 lockdown, Studio 2054 was an irreverent journey through 70s television studios, 80s rollers rinks, 90s raves and contemporary club culture. I worked alongside Block9 to design a set that represented a disjointed past, stitched together using archive video clips. My roles within the project comprised of graphic design, set design, art direction, production and build management. Five million people tuned in globally; making it the most successful ticketed online performance of all time.
    Creative Direction: Ceremony London Director: Liz Clare DoP: Nat Hill Producer: Kate Sinden Set Design: Block9 Lighting Design: Pixelmappers Musical Direction: WFB Live Choreography: Charm La’Donna, Alex Clark Styling: Lorenzo Posocco


Unilever Bright Future


As part of the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, Unilever held an event to promote their sustainability campaign called Project Sunlight. Guests were asked to submit their visions for the future, which were then interpreted into large scale illustrations by three on-site artists. I worked on the design elements for the event, from the A5 flyers to the large statement signs whilst at Anyways. 

10,000 Eyes

A campaign for the Rotterdam Police to help tackle robberies within the Delfshaven area. It comprised of 10,000 eyes within the public domain to help communicate the force’s hope to combat crime together. Whilst working with The Pop-Up City, I was responsible for producing the campaign material and identity, including the decals for the skyscrapers, trams and buses, as well as the print elements that were distributed to 5,000 homes in the area. 


The NYC Downlow

A legendary queer institution at Glastonbury, the NYC Downlow has been a cornerstone of underground queer culture. For the past three years I’ve been entrusted with creating the artwork for the NYC Downlow and Block9’s other stages, shaping the visual identity that carries these spaces from concept to the fields. I’m also part of the build crew for the NYC Downlow, Maceo’s and the Meat Rack, spending three weeks each June in the fields bringing these worlds to life.


The World of COS

This book acted as an internal guide for the staff at COS to understand the future direction of the company. The first section of the book recounts the history of COS, and its journey as a brand using archive and crowdsourced imagery. The second section outlines the company's redefined purpose and manifesto, and the third sets out the four mindsets that will deliver these changes. My role in the project was to design and art direct the book, liaise with printers and feed in to the content strategy whilst working at IDEO.


Future Cities Catapult - CityX 

Cityx was a three-day expo organised by Future Cities Catapult which took place at the Urban Innovation Centre in London. The event brought together leading thinkers, city leaders, academics and businesses to explore today’s priority city and mobility challenges, to discover how UK businesses are harnessing emerging technologies, to unlock radical new solutions and to develop the relationships needed to drive forward connected places for everyone.


Amnesty International: Global Campaigns

During my time at Amnesty, I worked alongside human rights researchers at the International Secretariat (IS) to support their vital work in countries such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, Colombia, El Salvador, Gaza, Greece, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Qatar, Serbia, Syria, Tunisia, Ukraine and many more. I also worked on global projects within the IS such as their Ambassador of Conscience Awards, Global Strategic Goals and Impact and Learning Reviews. 

 

The Academy of Urbanism

The Academy of Urbanism asked me to design the event collateral for The Future of London Placemaking; a day which brought together 150 urban practioners to reflect on the culture of ‘placemaking’ in London and co-create a shared agenda for its future using innovative and collaborative thinking. 


Wolmar for London

Soon after graduating, I became one of the founding members of the Wolmar for London campaign, a grassroots movement of volunteers supporting Christian Wolmar’s bid to become Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London. We worked tirelessly for two-and-a-half years to generate new and radical policies around transport, housing, policing and public health, as well as hosting events to crowdsource new policy ideas. Dave Hill, the Guardian political correspondent, described us as, “the most extensive grassroots political campaign the capital has seen in recent times”, and many of our policies went on to influence Sadiq Khan’s mayoral pledges, including his Homes for Londoners scheme and the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.

Forest Uprising

Forest Uprising was an illuminated urban sculpture garden and outdoor performance space built for Waltham Forest’s London Borough of Culture programme. I designed the visual identity for the festival as well as three of the installations. The first installation, Out of Time, was a shipping container filled with video projection. The second, the Glasshouse, was an immersive laboratory in which ideas were sown and propogated. The third, Import/Export, was the main performance stage at Forest Uprising modelled on a loading bay complete with a 40ft articulated lorry.