1. Bérins Candles & Perfumes
The creation of the logotype for a brand of scented candles for the home and interior fragrances came from a company which is specialised in supplying a top-quality, soft wax with exceptional properties for cosmetic, fragrance and pharmaceutical purposes. An intelligent way of enhancing the basic raw material, of embellishing its product assortment and of diversifying and looking for new markets. The Bérins logotype is the hallmark of a traditional French-style Parisian elegance, halfway between a handwritten initials like a personal commitment and a family spirit that only older firms are capable of designing, halfway between durability and timelessness.
2. Paris Les Halles-Forum commercial center
Without a doubt the most famous logotype that has been designed by A3DC and Jean-Philippe Lenclos, because, with its flawless black/white contrast, it attains the supreme graphic expression, that of traditional, lasting, timeless elegance. In phase with the architectural design of the glass roofs of the centre, and very marked by Lenclos’s trips to Japan, the logotype of the Les Halles Shopping Centre uses the vocabulary and purity of ink calligraphy – a vigorous and pure stroke of a quill which rewrites the effectiveness of the maximum contrast of the colour. The destruction of the building which was characteristic of a period of construction in Paris meant the end of the logo in 2013…
3. Züber-Rieder Paper-mills
An exceptional collaboration over nearly a decade during which, building on the design of a first, innovative range of creative paper, A3DC was entrusted with all the communication policy of the stationery, from revamping the corporate identity, logotype, publications B2B communications to conceptual research on a completely reworked assortment of stationery articles. The logotype was rewritten in the image of a historical pulp and paper factory like the ink signature of a master stationer’s quill pin. This collaboration was awarded a Janus de l’Industrie by the French Design Institute which is sponsored by the Ministry for Industry and Trade.
4. Canal Square, Bouwfonds Marignan Immobilier
The launch of the exceptional Canal Square property programme alongside the Ourcq canal in Paris prompted Bouwfonds Marignan Immobilier to select a design agency rather than a traditional communication agency. The creation of the identity, after searching for the name of this characteristic Parisian programme for the Dutch property promoter, dwells on the colour scheme inspired by the New York Factory-style, and seizes a dominate black and white with the occasional Downtown yellow of the taxis and traffic lights of Manhattan. With this coloured trilogy, which is inspired by the Great Apple, the Canal Square logo has three identifying colours and the words are reflected in the black water of the neighbouring canal while the square asserts the very structured location and downright cubic shape of the construction where grey and yellow bricks dominate.
5. Carrefour
The visual identity of Carrefour has not changed since the creation of the brand in 1959 – a capital “C” perceived with a second look, as if absent, stuck between two arrows. In September 2009, for the 50th anniversary of the brand, Carrefour adopted a new logo that had been created by the British agency, Wolff Olins, which had already designed the highly contested logo of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The icon is the same but the edges of the arrows and the “C” are less sharp and the colours are lighter. Depending on its uses, the logotype can be found in a wide palette of colours on coloured backgrounds but also in reserve on images printed in four colours. Faced with interpretation and perception problems, A3DC was asked to work on the contrast rules and manage the transitions between the logo and its backgrounds to enhance the characteristic “C” as best as possible. A contrast measurement rule was established as a working standard for all graphic designers who work on publishing and communication projects for the group…
6. Delbard, Steelcase-Strafor logotypes......
Colour is a sensitive dimension of graphic design. Sometimes A3DC is asked to optimise the coloured appearance of pre-existing logotypes in order to refine the perception, visibility and performance of the logo. As for example for Strafor with the graded colour spectrum. The brand had for a time opted to use all the colours of the spectrum in its characteristic lettering. Based on the principle that yellow always has a lower perceived value than other colours, it was necessary to optimise the spectrum colours. For the leading tree nursery and rose specialist, Delbard, colour had to express the softness of the fragrance of a rose which had been chosen as the standard logotype of the brand. Thereafter, A3DC was asked to create olfactory colour pyramids of the scents of its various rose species. Leading or middle notes, a passionate experience of synaesthesia, mixing scent and colour, the olfactory and sight, the nose and the eye. For the pleasure of all senses…