2017–2019

Bordeaux Museum of Natural History

The Bordeaux Museum of Natural History, founded in 1791, is one of the largest in France, with over 1 million specimens. Recognizing the collections’ rich heritage, their fragility, and their exceptional potential as an educational resource, the conservation team—supported by a scientific committee—designed a new museum layout. 
Upon its reopening in 2019, the new museum—renovated in accordance with the building’s architecture and the conservation requirements of the collections—utilizes the tools of exhibition design and multimedia to create a place of wonder, a space for information, debate, and discussion on environmental issues.
We were responsible for the museum’s overall graphic design: wayfinding, informational materials, maps for the visually impaired, multimedia guidelines, labels, production of some 3,000 specimen labels, creation of pictograms and diagrams, iconographic choices, and artistic direction in collaboration with the scenographer.
Since this competition did not include a mandate to define the museum’s visual identity, we sought to establish the tools for a visual language specific to the institution. Our approach was to develop a hybrid typeface built on the superimposition of three elements: a strong, bold typeface; an italic typeface reminiscent of scientific terminology; and an illustration (textures inspired by old naturalist engravings depicting skin or habitats). The Brando typeface—designed by the Bold Monday studio in La Hague—was chosen to embody this graphic principle.

Design team — Benjamin Ribeau and Alexandra Bauch — set designer Die Werft