2017

Historic labeled sites

The purpose of the consultation was to create a logo to identify the new program for the protection of urban and landscape heritage: “Remarkable Heritage Site.” This designation ensures the preservation of villages, neighborhoods, and downtown areas of particular interest in terms of architecture, history, and urban planning. The logo appears primarily on a plaque designating protected areas, but also on any other printed or digital medium mentioning this protection. This logo will appear alongside other existing signage elements: protection as Historic Monuments, inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, 20th-Century Heritage designation, Maisons des Illustres, European Heritage, or Remarkable Garden... The labyrinth logo used to designate a historic monument is a symbol that has existed for over 30 years and is widely recognized by the public. Creating and adding a new symbol among those already in use—most of which we do not know the meaning of—seemed to us to add to visual confusion rather than making the designation clear. Considering that the labyrinth, in its current form, symbolizes an “isolated” building, we proposed expanding its design so that it conveys an area, a territory, or a site, to identify Remarkable Heritage Sites. We proposed visual harmonization with the Historic Monument plaque to modernize its graphic design and create a consistent style for both designations. The exploration of embossing the symbol to enhance the label plaque and to utilize new manufacturing possibilities led to the creation of prototypes.

Design — Chantal Grossen