Galeries Lafayette: Galeries Lafayette

Credits & Description:

Agency: Wolff Olins
Client: Galeries Lafayette Foundation
Brand GALERIES LAFAYETTE
Entrant WOLFF OLINS LONDON
WOLFF OLINS London, United Kingdom Entrant Company
WOLFF OLINS London, United Kingdom Idea Creation
Brian Boylan Wolff Olins Principal
Neil Cummings Wolff Olins Creative Director
Sidney Lim Wolff Olins Senior Designer
Calle Enstrom Wolff Olins Senior Designer
Edd Harrington Colophon Foundry Typographer
Richard Coldicott All Available Space Animator
Pierre Antoine Arlot Wolff Olins Programme Director
Richard Chinn Wolff Olins Strategy Director
Cassie Simpson Wolff Olins Accounts Administrator
Guillaume Parent Agence Zélé Signage agency
Caty Olive Agence Zélé Signage agency
Frédéric Lemercier Agence Zélé Signage agency
Estelle Sauvage Agence Zélé Signage agency
Synopsis
For 120 years, French department store Galeries Lafayette has built a business around the idea of ‘a unique encounter of creativity and commerce, accessible to all’. Rather than simply market the product of creativity, or idolize the art itself, Guillaume Houzé, President of the Foundation, wanted to get closer to the process itself.
He launched Lafayette Anticipations, an art foundation in Paris, which showcases work that challenges people's notions of art and - uniquely - brings making to the fore. Creatives of all kinds are invited to develop boundary-pushing work in the in-house, high-tech workshop, and our brief was to design a brand to embody this.
With production always continuing in the background, the feeling of anticipation would be present and powerful for the audience, so it became our focus. The identity needed to convey this, and at the same time be easy to apply across print, digital and signage.
Outcome
The logo was unveiled for the first time on 1st January 2017 – a teaser video showcasing a sneak peek of the new brand and logo was posted on the Lafayette Anticipations Instagram and Facebook account.
The actual foundation opened on 10th March 2018. Visitors were able to experience the brand living in the space situated at 9 Rue du Plâtre in Central Paris.
Although these are early days, there’s been a huge amount of top tier coverage - not just of the identity but of the whole endeavour: https://www.wallpaper.com/arch... https://www.theguardian.com/wo... https://en.vogue.fr/fashion-cu...
Since the beginning of January until early April, there have been over 400 articles and audiovisual press coverage of the opening of Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation d’entreprise Galeries Lafayette.
Execution
At the heart of our execution is a dynamic, mechanical and bespoke typeface that appears to be in constant motion.
Anticipations Sans was designed in 3 phases. The first phase was the design of the 'base' letterforms, inspired by the mechanical structure of the building and it’s pure geometrical forms.
The second phase involved concealing parts of each letter to obtain the full 'cropped' glyph set, and the last phase involved writing an algorithm. This automates the randomised glyph selection when words are typed, striking a balance between unpredictability and legibility. It embodies the sense of anticipation created by ideas in the making.
It’s easy to apply at any scale: from large, animated signage in the concourse to static formats in the building frontage; from printed materials like tote bags to moving image across social media, Vimeo channels, and cinema idents.
Campaign Description
Inspired by the insight that concealing and revealing words in part creates more anticipation than showing it in full, we anchored the brand on a dynamic bespoke typeface that appears to be in constant mechanical motion, even when static. Letters in a word are cropped in a random order, with an algorithm ensuring that typing the same word twice yields different letter combinations.
This coincided with the mechanical architecture of the Rem Koolhaas-designed building. It’s comprised of four motorized platforms that can move independently, meaning the space can be reconfigured in 49 ways. As the artists make their pieces, so the building makes different spaces.
It speaks directly to the diverse international target audience, whose main intention is to experience something fresh and immerse themselves in ideas in the making.