The Louvre Museum in Paris asked Grapus to help brand their visual identity and create a new logo for them. The graphic logos would continue being developed by the Aterlier de Creation Graphique group, a smaller group within Grapus, until 1993 (Guillermou & Graphéine). The new logo for the Louvre Museum changed from “Musée du Louvre” to just “Louvre.” This logo would also mark the end of the communist-themed era for the graphic designer group (Guillermou & Graphéine).

The name of the museum was featured on top of a Parisian sky, “a black and white photograph of a cloud” (Vienne). The font is Granjon, which is a French serif font. The logo implies the universal emotional experience of gazing at the vast sky or a sunset, metaphorical for the power of the art inside to move the viewers (Vienne). The logo was signed Grapus, which is especially significant to the group because it marked the end of Grapus. Grapus had primarily made posters and designs for theater companies, poets, and other small organizations rather than working for advertisement agencies, schools, or the government. Many members of Grapus such as Gérard Paris-Clavel and Alex Jordan believed agreeing to the job with the Louvre was “contrary to their political commitment, unlike Pierre Bernard and Jean-Paul Bachollet” (Guillermou & Graphéine). Atelier de Création Graphique gained several other clients after the Louvre, including “the Centre Georges Pompidou, the French national park service, and a number of other cultural institutions” (Vienne).

Bibliography:

Guillermou, Tiphaine, and Graphéine. “Pierre Bernard & Grapus, ‘Graphic Design of Public Utility’, 1942/2015.” Graphéine Graphic Design, 23 Mar. 2016, www.grapheine.com/en/history-of-graphic-design/pierre-bernard-grapus-graphic-design-of-public-utility.

Vienne, Véronique. “Pierre Bernard.” Design Observer, 11 Nov. 2015, designobserver.com/feature/pierre-bernard/39111/.