2017

Bordeaux Métropole — Paysages 2017

The visual identity of the 2017 Paysages Bordeaux cultural season is inextricably linked to the inauguration of the high-speed rail line between Paris and Bordeaux in July 2017. This line has brought Bordeaux within 2 hours and 5 minutes of Paris, evoking notions of speed and the shortening of distances, and thus symbolizes the growing closeness between the two cities and their metropolitan areas. Despite this reduced travel time, we must not overlook the theme of the journey itself and the perception of the landscapes traversed. Contemplation and the anticipation of the destination remain strongly associated with this theme. We chose to place these at the center of the initiative that foreshadowed the inauguration and then accompanied all the events throughout the cultural season. Observing the landscape passing by behind a train window guided us throughout a kinetic approach and concept.

The system developed thus offers a typographic signature—or typogram—that both identifies the event (and the events taking place within it) and defines a space for expression. The role of this space is to display still or moving images captured across the entire metropolitan area: urban landscapes, green spaces, brownfield or tourist zones, cultural sites, events, and, of course, people… A film was produced (running time 2 hours 5 minutes) from the new TGV, even before the new line’s inauguration, with the aim of creating an initial visual archive to communicate both the completion of the line and the launch of the season. The adoption of the graphic identity is not limited to the event’s institutional stakeholders. Our goal is to enable the city’s residents, through a call for participation, to contribute to the collection of images and thus share their visions of the landscape. 

Design Team — Ruedi Baur, Chantal Grossen, and Benjamin Ribeau