"Deliberately simple design"
Leone Ming, head of the design agency, and art director Christine Böhmwalder on their work on Affichage’s new brand identity.
Design agency manager Leone Ming and AD Christine Böhmwalder on their work on Affichage's new look.WW: What was the biggest challenge in this branding project? The task was to develop a design concept in which ten existing brands or companies had to be involved. In addition, an icon was required as a graphic element and a clear, visual statement about the affiliation of the individual companies to the Affichage Group. Based on these specifications, we opted for an umbrella brand strategy.
Leone Ming: For all Affichage Group subsidiaries, an icon and the brand suffix "Affichage" have been integrated alongside the company name. The addition "out of home media" in the umbrella brand defines Affichage Holding's field of activity. In addition, the colors and fonts of all logos have been standardized. This composition stands for the spirit of optimism and the dynamic process within the entire group.
What elements does the new corporate design consist of? Leone Ming: The new logo consists of the elements icon, the company name and the addition "out of home media" for the parent company and "Affichage" for the subsidiaries. As a rule, these elements are presented as a unit. In certain cases, such as the labeling of poster media, the icon can be used as a stand-alone element or key visual.
What is the function of the triangular icon? The icon is made up of two graphic areas and forms the shape of a triangle with the outer lines. The individual red areas deliberately allow for the interpretations "A" and "1". The triangle occupies a key position in the new corporate design as a graphic recognition feature or key visual. Its use and deliberately simple design ensure that the brand is quickly and permanently memorized.
What is the significance of the new lettering and the new corporate color? The Serpentin font was the inspiration for the lettering. The individual modification has resulted in a modern font. Among other things, good legibility and easy reproducibility were also taken into account in the specially designed lettering. We opted for a confident red and a traditional blue for the colors. The new corporate colors underline the character of the Affichage Group: the red stands for dynamism, strength and an expression of vital power, and the blue conveys reliability, a sense of responsibility and competence.
How did you approach the design? The A and a dynamic sign were the basic elements. We used them in playful exercises and finally realized that the A also contains the 1. The affichage is the market leader. That was so convincing.
Is this icon unmistakable? Leone Ming: We naturally had the design checked by the relevant offices at an early stage in terms of trademark law, both for Switzerland and for all European countries.
There are two or three similar shapes in the sense of triangles.
However, these have nothing to do with our newly added line. The unique piece is therefore secured for us.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
Leone Ming: For all Affichage Group subsidiaries, an icon and the brand suffix "Affichage" have been integrated alongside the company name. The addition "out of home media" in the umbrella brand defines Affichage Holding's field of activity. In addition, the colors and fonts of all logos have been standardized. This composition stands for the spirit of optimism and the dynamic process within the entire group.
What elements does the new corporate design consist of? Leone Ming: The new logo consists of the elements icon, the company name and the addition "out of home media" for the parent company and "Affichage" for the subsidiaries. As a rule, these elements are presented as a unit. In certain cases, such as the labeling of poster media, the icon can be used as a stand-alone element or key visual.
What is the function of the triangular icon? The icon is made up of two graphic areas and forms the shape of a triangle with the outer lines. The individual red areas deliberately allow for the interpretations "A" and "1". The triangle occupies a key position in the new corporate design as a graphic recognition feature or key visual. Its use and deliberately simple design ensure that the brand is quickly and permanently memorized.
What is the significance of the new lettering and the new corporate color? The Serpentin font was the inspiration for the lettering. The individual modification has resulted in a modern font. Among other things, good legibility and easy reproducibility were also taken into account in the specially designed lettering. We opted for a confident red and a traditional blue for the colors. The new corporate colors underline the character of the Affichage Group: the red stands for dynamism, strength and an expression of vital power, and the blue conveys reliability, a sense of responsibility and competence.
How did you approach the design? The A and a dynamic sign were the basic elements. We used them in playful exercises and finally realized that the A also contains the 1. The affichage is the market leader. That was so convincing.
Is this icon unmistakable? Leone Ming: We naturally had the design checked by the relevant offices at an early stage in terms of trademark law, both for Switzerland and for all European countries.
There are two or three similar shapes in the sense of triangles.
However, these have nothing to do with our newly added line. The unique piece is therefore secured for us.
Interview: Andreas Panzeri
