A photographic and poetic guide to the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy, France, built around rain and impressionism, where shifting weather transforms the landscape.

Labels for a cider producer in Normandy, France. Fred’s Apples engages in traditional production methods, using a press, with apples picked locally by hand.

This type specimen was made as a school project by Tom Choquet at ECV Lille. The editorial specimen showcases Aukera, a typeface by Alexandre Créquer. The fan was produced using screen printing techniques at Mutuelle de la Racle, with the final results captured in photography by Louis Serres.

La Place des Femmes (“The Role of Women”) is an event organised by MESHS (Maison européenne des sciences de l’homme et de la société) in the north of France during the “Spring of Human and Social Sciences”. This event features conferences and panel discussions on topics within the human and social sciences. For this edition, the visual questions the invisibility of women in society through a play on transparency, achieved by spot varnish.

Visual identity for Carmi, a café, bar & deli and the little brother of Tripletta pizzeria, where you can grab a coffee, enjoy a hearty panuozzo, or have an aperitivo in a charming alley of old Lille.

Publication accompanying the Microtopies festival in the French city of Lille and participating municipalities, organized by the WAAO Center for Architecture and Urban Planning.

From WAAO (translated):

We invite you to discover unique installations: cabins imagined by groups of architects, landscape planners and designers. These construction sites are an invitation to participate in the construction of these unique cabins and to discover the creative processes live. Each site will host activities and events. These architectural and ephemeral "micro-interventions" are designed to reconsider the place of imagination and reuse in our urban and rural landscapes. Made from recycled materials, the cabins will be the central point of activities, tours, workshops and exhibitions throughout the summer.

Designed by Julien Lelievre, the publication features two typefaces: Hauser by SM Foundry for titles and Signal by Production Type for body text.

Gilbert Guilleminault’s book about the “crazy years” – the period commonly referred to in English as the Roaring Twenties – was first published by Denoël in 1958. Shown here is a book club edition issued in 1962 by the Club des Amis du Livre in their “Le meilleur livre de luxe” series, limited to 5,000 numbered copies.

The chosen display typeface dates from the end of the covered period: it’s Cassandre’s Bifur, first cast by Deberny & Peignot in 1928. Spine lettering, endpapers and title page show Bifur double, the version for two-color use. The geometric glyphs are printed in black plus alternating primary colors.

The original binding, typography and illustration are by E.W. Mercier and Yves Noirot. Text is set in the 10pt size of Egyptienne F. Designed by Adrian Frutiger, this humanist slab serif is another innovative release by Deberny & Peignot. It was issued in 1958 for their pioneering phototypesetting system, the Lumitype. The book was printed on the presses of Petits-Fils de Léonard Danel in Loos-lez-Lille.

The endpapers list the events covered in the book, including the death of Lenin, the scandal caused by Victor Margueritte’s La Garçonne, Atatürk’s revolution, the Four Musketeers at the Davis Cup, the Munich Putsch, the boxing fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier, and the Black Thursday at Wall Street.

On the title page, the Bifur letters get in line. Contributors are listed below: François Brigneau, André Falk, Paul Gérin, Dominique Lapierre, Henri Legros, Anne Manson, René Masson, Pierre Minet, Hugues Panassié, Michel Perrin, and Robert de Thomasson.

Bifur is also used inside the book. A contour was added so that the black parts stand out from the dark background.

Opening to the chapter about “jazz as it conquers the century”, set in bold Egyptienne F

For the endpapers at the back, the parts in Bifur were mirrored.

Was there design before DTP? How did one work without computers?

Layout for an interview with Étienne Robial, a graphic designer and art director who has been active since 1970. The book was made as a student project at the École de Communication Visuelle of Lille, supervised by Matthieu Becker. The text and images used were sourced from an interview conducted by Élise Gay and Kévin Donnot in Paris, on May 4th 2016, and published by Back Office. The English version was translated from the French by Simon Pleasance and Fronza Woods.

Rita: Bistrot Festif is a French restaurant where eclectic décor meets lively ambiance. With its charming fusion of contemporary and classic, Rita creates an inviting space for both casual diners and festive gatherings.

Bureau Barbara’s design work captures the essence of this dynamic venue with a playful yet sophisticated touch. The typefaces used, including Romie Italic (designed by Margot Lévêque), add a stylish flair, with the swashes enhancing the bistro’s lively character, alongside the sans serif Poppins (designed by Jonny Pinhorn). The Rita logo is based on Kaileigh (by Muhamad Yusron Billah).

Sociologie des supporters de foot à Lens: Immersion chez les Atrébates (“Sociology of Football Fans in Lens: Immersion with the Atrébates”) is Adrien Dalle’s master thesis for his Science Politique Parcours study at the Université de Lille. The publication, measuring 165×230 mm, was designed by Edouard Vandycke. The text is set in Neue Haas Unica and headlines use Apple Garamond.

Plage Paloma is a vintage thrift shop located in Paris and Lyon. The typography used for their visual identity is Jack's Maggot, designed by Simon Walker.

The business cards are printed on Colorplan paper with foil by Foilco and printed by ICB Imprimerie.

To mark its new 2024 season, Station V by Vilogia is presenting a brand new exhibition giving students from three schools in the Lille area carte blanche. Accompanied by their tutors, more than 60 students have worked collectively on the theme of “Cohabiting” during workshops, mobilising their artistic and scenographic skills. Throughout the year, their works will be displayed in turn in the windows of Station V, on Lille’s Grand Place. They will reflect a diversity of viewpoints and perspectives on the world from the young people of today.

The first exhibition will run from January to March: Mot à Mot, created by Léa Seiler and Lucas Sabathié, two students from ESDAC. The exhibition is a representation of five concepts linked to cohabitation: communication, learning, work, wandering and entertainment. It is a participatory exhibition through which visitors can interact and have fun by combining different words. It invites visitors to explore how writing and images can create links. Léa and Lucas chose to work with the Dina Chaumont Display, which fits in perfectly here with its colourful modularity and invites the viewer to play with it.

All in Space, from the SPII Polygone group, creates professional interior designs and offers support from design to turnkey delivery of your workspaces. Bureau Barbara signs this very beautiful rebranding, moving from web design to team photo shooting, up to the varied and complete variation of their communication supports.

Catalog of the exhibition Ghada Amer – A Woman’s Voice Is Revolution at the Mucem in Marseille, the first retrospective of artist Ghada Amer in France. The exhibition ran from December 2, 2022 to Apr 16, 2023, and was held in three places (Mucem, Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and the chapel of the Center de la Vieille Charité).

A Woman’s Voice Is Revolution brings together the different modes of plastic expression of the Franco-American-Egyptian artist, from her beginnings to to his most recent creations. Embroidery, painting, ceramics, bronze and the creation of gardens are at the heart of his art. Between East and West, Ghada Amer questions from one culture to another the representations, the relations of domination, the processes of assimilation, opposition or translation. Today, she is a major voice on post-colonial and feminist issues in contemporary creation.

The bilingual catalog (French and English) was designed by Lille-based design studio Les produits de l’épicerie, and published by éditions Dilecta (from Paris). Zangezi is used throughout the catalog. Its pointed and sharp aspect, all in elegance and flexibility, evokes the works of Ghada Amer. The artist often uses needle and thread as a medium for painting and drawing.

Roof offers all-inclusive student accomodations in the French cities of Lille, Amiens and Valenciennes. Their branding was handled by Paris based agency StudioPaack, who created a custom wordmark, supported by typography set in two styles of Agrandir. On selected posters, the tagline uses Open Sans.

Dejbox, a major player in office food delivery, is now Refectory. This new name is the result of a new positioning for the brand, which is now positioned as an online food market. The naming was carried out in collaboration with Nomen, a Parisian naming agency. Bureau Barbara then took charge of the entire brand image: branding, editorial tone, packaging, outfits, iconography, motion design, video production, and so many other subjects.

The main typefaces are Neue Machina and OCR-B. In certain cases, the two are supported by additional typefaces – an example is shown in the last image, where Gig makes an appearance on the T-shirts.

See more images and videos on the Bureau Barbara portfolio website.

If there is one place where Italy and France know how to agree, it is around a table!

Cacio Pepe, an Italian trattoria located in the heart of the Passage de l'Arsenal in Valenciennes, brings together the creativity of Italy through that of a starred chef of Italian origin and the French audacity of an entrepreneur-restaurateur who does not have cold eyes. Two gourmets at heart who have taken up a bet: to set up a restaurant together in the pure Italian tradition.

In January 2022, five institutions located in Lille joined forces to create one of the largest European universities: Université de Lille – a university at the heart of global transitions, a major force in higher education. With more than 80,000 students, Université de Lille aims to develop new ways of reinventing progress, creating new training courses and innovating through research, while developing its links with the metropolitan, regional and international ecosystem.

Université de Lille is a new “EPE” (experimental public institution), now including the students of the former Université de Lille, Lille School of Journalism (ESJ Lille), Lille National School of Architecture and Landscape (ENSAPL), National School of Textile Arts and Industries (ENSAIT) and Sciences Po Lille. Université de Lille is the university of social, economic and environmental transition. It’s a project that brings the completeness of French knowledge to the doors of Northern Europe.

Graphéine accompanied Université de Lille in the definition of its visual identity, its brand architecture and its graphic guidelines in a co-construction process. Several workshops were conducted between June and July 2021. These co-creative workshops led the participants to question the values of the project, the symbolic vision of the university and the image of Lille territory.

Three L’s for Lille form the U of University. Their interlocking shape evokes the leaves of an open book, symbolizing the mission of higher education to transmit knowledge. We can also see the furrows of the mining industry, those of agricultural crops and the lines of the looms of Lille's economic past. The curved emblem speaks to us of the warm hospitality of Northern France. Finally, a mark is emerging, one that marks the future and initiates the signature “Let's inspire tomorrow”.

Two typefaces are used within the layout. Rational by René Bieder and Eliza by Camelot Typefaces. Their association transcribes the perfect agreement between French tradition and European modernity. This duo gives relief to the titles and its italic directly echoes the emblem.

This new unifying identity, gives birth to a new version of the University of Lille and translates its openness, interdisciplinarity and excellence. A joyful and flexible identity to which students, staff, researchers and teachers are already united!

Learn more on our portfolio website.

Before (left) and after the redesign (right)

French graphic designer Théo Poyer handled the artistic direction of La chute (“The Fall”), the newest album of the noisy French pop artist La Houle, released by October Tone.

Simon Sockeel aka La Houle rolls up his sleeves by taking us on a poetic shoegaze that will turn us upside down. We dive into a bewitching introspection where the specters of My Bloody Valentine and Étienne Daho merge on intense titles such as “Semaphore” resolutely noisy or even the 90s ascents of “Ode à l'errance”. The whispered interpretation by Simon Sockeel will have something to challenge us.

The album becomes even more introspective with the dreamy “You (this me)” transporting us to new horizons and the bittersweet “L’égaré.e” recalling the grace of Cocteau Twins, both these songs involving Simon’s grandmother.

Alongside the photographic cover design, we find a beautiful use of Inferi Light in different sizes next to Acumin.

Royez Musik started business in 1972, and now counts six stores in Amiens, Lille, Longueau, Reims, Rouen, Paris. This is their shop in Lille, France.

Choc by Roger Excoffon is one of my favourites. He designed it in 1955 and it is as French as a croissant or a Citroën. It’s flamboyant, playful and whimsical. And if you design something with Choc, it immediately gets that fifties French vibe, no matter how you use it. I think it’s a masterpiece. So when I see one in use, my heart jumps up. And in this particular case with the neon, I find it even better.