Jamie Vartan has worked extensively as a designer in theatre and opera in Ireland, the UK and Europe, with representations at Prague Quadrennials 1999, 2007 & 2011, and World Stage Design 2013 (WSD 2013 Best Set Design award for Misterman).

He has designed a number of productions for Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, most recently for Shackleton (Irish Tmes Theatre Awards best set design 2016).

Other designs for theatre include, for Galway International Arts Festival, Landmark Productions and St Anne’s Warehouse New York, Arlington (2016), Ballyturk (NT Lyttleton 2014), Misterman (Galway 2011 Irish Times Theatre Awards Best Set Design,  NT Lyttleton 2012) & Woyzeck in Winter (Galway & Barbican); several productions at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, including The Playboy of the Western World & Mrs Warren’s Profession; Bondagers (Edinburgh Lyceum); Khandan (Royal Court); Mass Observation (Almeida); Knives in Hens (Perth Theatre); Have Your Circumstances Changed? (Artangel site-specific performance, Archway, London); The Lost Child Trilogy (David Glass Ensemble), with residencies in Vietnam, Indonesia, China, the Philippines & Colombia. Current productions include Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Galway, Dublin, New York and Barbican).

Designs for opera include Bluebeard's Castle (Irish National Opera, Gaiety Theatre Dublin) & The Second Violinist (Irish National Opera, Galway, Dublin & Barbican), Eugene Onegin (Opera du Rhin, Strasbourg), The Barber of Seville (Wide Open Opera 2016, Irish Times Awards best set design), The Last Hotel (Wide Open Opera & Landmark Productions 2015), Cristina di Svezia (Wexford 2013), A Village Romeo & Juliet (Wexford 2012, Irish Times Awards best set design), La traviata (Malmo Opera), Ariadne auf Naxos (Salzburg), Carmen (Cagliari & Lisbon), The Queen of Spades (La Scala). Also productions in Naples, Florence, Parma, ROH and Scottish Opera. Current designs include Ariadne Auf Naxos (La Scala).

Design for dance with choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller includes Requiem for Phoenix Dance Company (Sadlers Wells and UK tour) and Recall (Linbury Studio and UK tour).

Design for film includes The Last Hotel (Brink Films & Sky Arts).