06.25.20
Graphéine is a brand design agency based in Paris, France. They have shared through via their Behance, the new visual identity for the French Ministry of Culture. The Ministry's logo was initially designed back in 1989 by Pippo Lionni and later in 1999, the logo of the French Republic was added. It's only two decades later that Graphéine had the task to rethink this endeavor into a more flexible and functional visual system for our new digital usages. If you are interested, I really recommend you go on their Behance where they even included a podcast talking about the 'behind-the-scenes', it's really interesting. It's in French, by the way, be warned.
The challenge of this project was to be part of continuity while reinventing contemporary codes. We decided to keep as many of the existing ingredients as possible, despite certain weaknesses, such as the Republic logo, which could only be used on a white background. We couldn't accept this constraint, and by adding a midnight blue tint and taking on the framing in a radical way, we opened up new possibilities.
Intentionally choosing off-centre images and overflowing text helps to arouse curiosity. The image is a "call" which "meaning" is not delivered immediately. The reader is invited to imagine what happens next and must, in turn, do the "work of the mind". This is one of the missions of the ministry!
Running by the name of François Hoang, I am the Editor and one of the writers on the blog. If you wanna request a feature, tweet me at @AoiroStudio.
Designing the visual identity of a business is always very challenging, there are so much to consider and tons of subtleties. I feel that for some industries that task can be even more daunting, one of the I believe it might be designing the branding of a restaurant.
Creating a branding system is always a intricate process, it requires a lot of thinking especially on how to make things look as they are part of a family, sometimes some varitions look better than the other but the overall look and feel should remain familiar.
Branding systems have always been inspiring to me. I don't have the chance to work on this kind of project anymore but I have a profound admiration for not only the projects but the designers behind them. Kuberg is a good example, with a smart and strong symbol.
We have published tons of incredible brand identity articles here on ABDZ since we started. These projects were for all sorts of businesses but we never had one for a soccer team, at least until today.
