New logo, new charter: why BonneGueule is getting a makeover?

BonneGueule, as a website, has existed since 2007. It seems like a long time. We're talking about 14 years after all!

To give you an idea, in 2007, Facebook had not yet arrived in France and Steve Jobs presented the very first iPhone. The must at the time was the pat of Eph. Folon, Gilles Villeneuve and Michel Polnareff.

And when we launched our first clothes in 2012, we activated and deactivated the clothes in stock ourselves by adding or removing lines of PayPal HTML code. Another time...

In 2021, we are still proudly independent. We still fight to make the best possible clothes, with materials that inspire us and last a long time. And we continue to value your trust more than anything, as well as that of our collaborators and our partners weavers, spinning mills, tanneries, manufacturers, agencies...

The values ​​of the early days are still those that drive us.

But some things have to change, evolve with the times, reflect who we are today. So the time has come to renew our visual identity.

VISUAL IDENTITY AT BONNEGUEULE

I have often explained our strengths and weaknesses by recounting our genesis...

So here it is...

Most fashion companies are founded by business people who hire a design agency from the beginning, or by fashion people with a strong focus on image issues.

As a result, these companies quickly become very strong in terms of image but only roll up their sleeves late on the issues of product development, quality or customer experience.

This makes sense, given that clothing purchases have always been more influenced by brand image and price than the actual qualities of the clothes .

But for BonneGueule, it's different. The company was founded by two nicely weird guys, a bit naive too, for whom only the cut and the quality/price ratio matter. That, and then pleasing everyone: customers, partners, the planet and even the competition. And then explaining their passion in content. Again and again.

OK, but what about visual identity? No time, no money.

Well yes, as we put our energy and our money into everything else, we never really pushed the image subjects .

That said, it's not something I blame us for. In hindsight, we did well to prioritize quality and substance over image and form. And if we had to start all over again, Ben and I would do the same. However, we still really want to crack this image issue once and for all!

STATE OF PLAY IN 2021

A GRAPHIC CHARTER TO CONSOLIDATE

Fortunately, we have gradually recruited talented video and photography collaborators who have managed to create beautiful images with relatively little means.

We also benefited from the website design work carried out by the Axome agency (hello Philippe and Florence).

But it's not really the same as a design agency, it doesn't allow you to achieve the same regularity and uniformity.

As a result, the graphic charter was never really pushed to 100%, despite internal talent.

Take the test: can you recognize BonneGueule content solely based on the treatment of photos, models, shooting locations, colors used, patterns and typography?

A LOGO THAT NO LONGER CORRESPONDS ENOUGH TO WHO WE ARE

As for our logo, it was created in 2010 with great care , but has not evolved in 11 years.

At the time, we had just launched the BonneGueule brand and we needed to assert our high-end positioning. Hence a picto and an art deco font, refined, for a "luxury brand" effect. If we're going to use the same materials, we might as well have the same codes...

But today, we see ourselves as a modern high-end brand, with our own codes, rather than a luxury brand.

All the more so since these elements created in 2011 are quite impractical when you want to print them (because of the gradient and the very fine lines), or reduce their size (the text becomes difficult to read).

That said, we still love this logo. Particularly its vivid, precise typography and its rounded pictogram, which symbolizes for us the community and the people who have helped us.

It's a logo that has accompanied us for almost 10 years of our lives. So with Ben, we don't say to ourselves that we throw it away, but rather that we put it in our little museum of things that we keep in our hearts, but that we don't necessarily have to use anymore .

Exactly like the prototype of the first pair of jeans that we launched, patched three or four times, and which I will never part with.

STEP 1: THE BRAND PLATFORM

Our first step before embarking on a graphic redesign was to define who we are .

It sounds simple when you say it like that. But you know, you, clearly define who you are? Well imagine our difficulty in synthesizing a brand founded by two aligned but also very different people, a current team that continues to grow, and the legacy of all those who came before them... without forgetting the community of course.

Because BonneGueule has always chosen to talk to men about fashion differently.

That's a lot of things...

But over the course of many workshops, we still managed to come up with a definition shared by all: this is what we call a brand platform .

To go further into what this means for us...

OUR MISSION ✊

CONSUME BETTER: Imagine and promote fashion with ethical convictions

• Consume better : mindful purchasing, CSR, sustainable clothing vs. fast fashion
• Imagine : create products, BonneGueule collections that reflect our love of craftsmanship and the promotion of heritage, whether French or foreign.
• Promote : create content (text, video, etc.) to defend our idea of ​​fashion
• Ethical convictions : transparency, know-how, durability of clothing, social and environmental commitment

THE PROMISE MADE TO OUR CUSTOMERS 💍

Allowing men to feel good in their clothes and giving them a fashion experience with convictions

• To men (in a broader sense than "our" community)

We welcome every visitor as a friend because we share THE SAME VALUES. It is an open "community".

• Feel good

We help men better understand their own style. Our editors/CMs/advisors share their informed opinions. All this contributes to the well-being of our clients; whether spiritual (alignment of values, self-confidence) or material (good size, good cut, ...).

• To make live

We are not just clothing producers/distributors. We create EXPERIENCES (media, community management , "useful" marketing, in-store advice, coaching, events) that TRANSFORM our visitors (consume better, self-image) and sometimes also transform them!

• Beliefs

Stylistic convictions : We assert our tastes and our style; French fashion with nods to Japan.

Ethical convictions : Transparency, know-how, sustainability, social and environmental commitment

OUR ECONOMIC AMBITION 2025 🔭

Leading digital brand of responsible men's fashion in Europe via our digital ecosystem and our stores.

Leader in Europe

We are the default choice for stylish and committed fashion

Men's fashion

Focus on men's fashion in the coming years and women's fashion shortly.

Responsible

Multiply responsible initiatives but also make them visible and understandable.

Digital ecosystem

Digital platforms that feed each other and work in synergy.

STEP 2: GRAPHIC CREATION

In order not to put you to sleep, I will skip over the various internal projects that have already helped us make good progress in the past.

Once the brand platform was finalized, it was necessary to transform these concepts into graphic codes: colors, fonts, logos, textures, to create a graphic charter.

A mission that we entrusted to David Polonia , freelance Artistic Director.

I could introduce David by explaining that he has worked for Hermès, Carven, Maison Lejaby, or even our friends at L'Exception. But I prefer to tell you that he is a super nice guy and a very very old reader like you. And that two things really stand out about him: an enormous kindness and a total passion for typography (he can talk about it for hours).

The first step for him was to understand BonneGueule... Here is what he understood:

DAVID POLONIA, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EXPLAINS HIS WORK

👉 See his site

David, what did you understand from BonneGueule?

I discovered BonneGueule shortly after its launch, so I felt like I had known the brand for a long time. What I understood more precisely when starting this collaboration was the strength of the media, which, through its geeky side without veering into elitism, really pushed for the creation of real collections in line with the founding values ​​of BonneGueule.

It is indeed the need for quality, beautiful and stylish clothing that has created the offer, which only slightly follows the standards of an industry that has completely lost its way, between unbearable pace, dubious manufacturing and dizzying sales that are also misleading as to the supposed quality of the final product.

Overall, how did you translate the world of BonneGueule into the charter?

No one would think of comparing BonneGueule with the fast fashion industry. The idea was that it would be the same for our charter.

At a time when most logos and brand sites are becoming more and more similar, thanks to the use of “ design systems ”, rapid, cost-effective design and trends, we have taken the time to have fun scattering details here and there, and taking care of them passionately.

It is rare to have to choose materials and finishes for a website. We did it with joy.

What did you want to say through the logo?

The typography of the logo is inspired by the initial logo, with its characteristic B, its little art deco touch; we wanted to celebrate the growing maturity of BonneGueule by working on serifs.

But appearing too serious would have displeased us, we had to maintain a spirit of closeness and good nature!

This inclined O, this very nice G as I like to call it - even if this qualifier is dated - are there for this reason! This G is still very nice.

Can you explain your choice of fonts? Of color?

The typefaces used for the rest of our materials are a sweet mix. We use a beautiful serif for our titles, in order to pay homage to traditional press printing; but the Piazzola, our choice, was designed very recently for screens. Which makes sense. For the work texts, we marry it to a superb grotesque designed by Klim Type Foundry, which brings modernity to the work while remaining very readable. Just a look at its capital O puts me in a good mood.

The colors we chose are natural colors, again because it corresponded to the DNA of BonneGueule. They create a visual calm, while leaving the possibility of creating vibrations if necessary. We do not use deep blacks or pure whites, as in nature ultimately. This allows to obtain pleasant contrasts which bring a certain reading comfort.

THE NEW LOGO: ELEGANCE WITHOUT PRETENTION, BONUSES WITHOUT COMPROMISE

I'll spare you the details about the design and meaning of every angle or curve in the new logo. David sums it up in one short sentence: " Elegance without pretension, bonhomie without compromise ."

We basically had two possibilities:

"The first brings us closer to the codes of high-end lifestyle publishing, giving pride of place to serifs."

The second is in line with the current BonneGueule logo, but gives it a more polished look, giving a nod to know-how and manufacturing, but with an original touch giving it modernity and good nature.

It is this second track that we followed!

"Serifs bring a notion of experience and know-how while sans serif typographies are often considered more modern. Our communication will therefore focus on balancing the use of the latter two to consolidate the brand image of BonneGueule."

Our main logotype comes in two versions. The first version is to be used as often as possible when there is enough space available:

When this is not the case, we will use the two-line version of the logo:

For the Media part of the site, David plans to add the word “media” so that Internet users understand where they are:

And the logotypes of the Media programs have also benefited from a slight clean-up and a youthful look. They are derived, where possible, from the typographies of the new charter:

TYPOGRAPHIES: SEARCH FOR A RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN MODERNITY AND TRADITION

"The chosen set of typographies gives pride of place to the grotesques , which give our speeches a friendly, close aspect, and a very beneficial structure when consulting very generous pages of texts."

"For all content referring to the editorial DNA of BonneGueule, we will use a serif typography, but whose curves and endings have a modern appearance and allow increased readability on screen."

And we intend to use these typographies in a variable way, for unique letters in the middle of the text, generated randomly by varying the weight, but also the level of fineness, or the precision of the line, in order to recreate, even on a screen, the appearance of texts printed on the press.

"This initiative, still very rare, is a tribute to Humanity, to vernacular work by hand and on matter. This typography will be obtained during careful work on an existing character, for exclusive use on traditional and digital media of BonneGueule."

BEAUTIFUL NATURAL COLORS, ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES

David worked on a generous range of colours, with neutral, simple and natural tones, as well as two stronger colours.

It's a color palette that we were already using. David mainly came to rework it and complete it.

These colors will give rhythm to our speeches, but also help us to properly structure and prioritize the information.

This range is accompanied by secondary shades in order to meet most digital uses.

To ensure a pleasant reading experience, we maintain non-aggressive contrasts. Pure white and pure black should be avoided. This is how we can hope to pay tribute to traditional printing techniques in a subtle way and encourage you to read, read & read again!

TEXTURES: DARE TO USE MATERIALS TO EVOK KNOW-HOW

In terms of textures, David had a brilliant idea that showcases our passion for Japanese words and know-how: Japanese wallpaper textures!

This approach subtly evokes the ancestral work of the material, with its controlled imperfection and variations in grain.

"To be in line with current values ​​of respect for the environment, we choose ranges of recycled and/or recyclable papers.

Just like our clothes, these must have a touch, roughness, these slight defects that only work that respects nature can generate. Chemically treated papers, bursting with pure colors, have no place being used, just like printing techniques once considered high-end but in reality very linked to the oil industry. So out go coated papers, laminations and other machine or selective varnishes!

We extend this mark of respect for the material to our digital media, using textures reminiscent of beautiful papers by Takeo or GF Smith during our speeches."

And when you combine colors and textures, that's when the magic happens!

I don't know about you, but I'm in love with these images.

SASHIKO PATTERNS

And we chose to keep our patterns inspired by sashiko (a type of Japanese embroidery), which originally came to us from the work of Florence and Philippe from Axome, our web agency.

EDUCATIONAL PICTOGRAMS, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAILS

David then did a huge job: reconstituting our entire library of homemade pictograms!

At BonneGueule, we can sometimes be chatty when we talk passionately about clothes.

We may also enter into discussions that may seem complex to our community. This is why sometimes, to punctuate a statement and make reading more pleasant and structured, we insert pictograms.

"Like ink pads, the pictograms have a friendly, round appearance, for greater proximity, and the combination of 'damaged' material and a blue colour in 'product' mode pays homage to traditional printing."

THE BONNEGUEULE PICTOGRAM / SYMBOL

All that remained was to reinvent THE BonneGueule pictogram, its symbol:

And it turned out to be much more difficult than we thought. We put David through all the hoops, with our constant back-and-forth of ideas.

We first tried to stay in the style of the current logo, to evoke a lineage:

Finally, we liked the idea of ​​the fingerprint, a nod to the human, but also to the digital. And a tribute to the hand of our artisans. But graphically, it wasn't quite there yet...

So by dint of searching and searching, we brought in a second creative mind: Michael Lunet .

Michael is also one of our very old BonneGueule readers and an Artistic Director by trade. We gave him a very specific mission: to imagine the pictogram that will accompany the logo and all the other elements created by David.

MICHAEL LUNET, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EXPLAINS HIS WORK

👉 See his site

Michael, what did you understand from BonneGueule?

For me, BonneGueule is above all a brand created by two enthusiasts.

One of the first in France to have offered standards of men's wardrobe brought up to date, manufactured with care by artisans with pricing and production logic outside the standards.

Selling quality and durability rather than quantity and offering cuts and careful materials to dress men in a chic and relaxed way.

A brand that plays the card of honesty, proximity, transparency and which has spoken out as an expert clothing media for many years via its blog and its YouTube content.

How did you arrive at this result after an inconclusive first attempt at the print?

Starting from scratch and trying to define a new, clear direction.

Return to the essentials, to a symbol that is both more obvious and unique.

The idea of ​​starting again with the initials and in this case the “B” came about quite quickly.

For the treatment, I decided to base myself on the characteristics of the chosen typography in order to establish a lineage and coherence.

What did you want to illustrate, symbolize through this new symbol?

This symbol was inspired by the descending line of the “B” in typography.

It was a graphic feature that I wanted to accentuate to give the “B” a strong character.

To give the impression that the symbol was drawn in one go and thus symbolize mastery, movement and elegance.

The other intention was to combine the "B" in the upper part and the "G" in the lower part.

We have the association of masculine strength with the start of the "B" and more feminine lines in the descending curve which rises again, evoking the "G".

A synthesis of the two words and the two scales.

How is this symbol a strong marker of the BonneGueule identity?

It is a strong marker in the sense that it takes the initials of the brand and asserts them.

The “B” is a structured letter that implies stability.

With its design combining curves and straight lines, BonneGueule stands out as a confident brand, combining finesse and know-how.

Michael first started from the fingerprint.

"The 5 proposed symbols are based on the notion of imprint, lines, weaving and are nourished by our discussions as well as the sources of inspiration from the initial brief.

These symbols explore in particular the notion of movement and openness of your brand, which although French, draws on the riches and know-how of the world in its quest for quality.

Due to the roundness of the new typography, particularly the "o" and the "g", the circle was preferred as the overall shape."

But it didn't suit us either. Not really a crush...

So we asked Michael to start with a completely new idea!

"The direction of the imprint was explored and declined. Conceptually relevant, it is however not convincing for the new identity of the Bonne Gueule brand."

My suggestion: start again with the initials and the typography. Discard the “BG” whose masculine and familiar connotation does not suit you. Design a symbol by stylizing the “B”.

This symbol will be used sparingly, where the logo does not fit (very small spaces), or to "brand" a support without overdoing it.

It reminds me of a kind of imprint, like a seal. With both a masculine side, quite angular, and a softer and rounder side, more feminine. Moreover, it can very well suit our feminine clothes.

STEP 3: VARIATIONS AND INTEGRATION

Now that our graphic charter is finished, we will have to adapt it.

Yes, there will be a lot of application cases, not necessarily covered by David and Michael's work:

• clothing packaging (box shape, materials, textures, colors, etc.)
• our choices of models and locations for shootings
• the colors, materials and shapes used in our stores
• a discreet, even hidden, signature on our clothes

FOR STORES: BEING THE IDEAL NEIGHBOR

But also make decisions about the places where we absolutely want to display the new identity (example: storefront, digital media, etc.), and those where we agree to keep the old one for a while.

I like this little text that David wrote, which sums up well the use that we should make of our logo in stores:

"When we arrive in a new city, in a new neighborhood, we must also shine with our elegance.

This is why it is appropriate not to occupy the facades in a disproportionate way (our logo is never more than 2m on each side) or to disturb the neighborhood with garish screens that make all the windows in the neighborhood flash all night long.

Our temporary messages occupy the windows by playing with their proportions. They are at human height to simplify the readability of the message, and do not obstruct the view of the interior of the store. They are only printed in a pure white color so as not to disturb the visual tranquility of our streets."

Moreover, the work has already begun:

CLAW AND HANGERS

However, there is no perfect way to update the labels of all our garments already produced, or in production. We have considered replacing all the labels, but we believe that it would not be a good idea, both from an economic and ecological point of view, to throw away all these beautiful and functional labels.

This is even more true for the hangers in our stores, with the logo engraved in the wood. There is no question of throwing away these hangers, so you have to keep them .

SPOILER: A NEW SITE AT THE END OF 2021

And we find the same logic for digital media. It's quite simple to change the logos of social networks and the site. But it's more complicated to hunt for colors and textures in every corner of our sites.

The graphic charter will therefore only be perfectly deployed at the very end of the year, on the occasion of the redesign of our sites. A very ambitious project, undoubtedly THE most ambitious of the last 5 years, which we are very eager to see land and which will finalize this enormous project that started 2 years ago: redesigning all of our IT tools ( ERP , CRM , PLM , BI , media, e-commerce site).

Here is an example (really just an example, these are not mockups) of what the site could look like, integrating all the elements of the new identity:

STEP 4: GETTING USED TO AND APPROPRIATING THESE NEW CODES

We will now all cohabit for a few months with two graphic universes, the time for the stocks to turn, and for our good old logo to join our little internal museum . And maybe in 5 or 10 years it will be seen as vintage 😉

As always, we will also have to get used to the new logos and colors . It is always difficult to give up something that works, that we like and that has been of great help to us. And this moment when we leave the past behind without having yet gotten used to the new identity always gives an impression of strangeness. The time for the eye to get used too.

I also remember that the current e-commerce site had clearly surprised a lot of people, and that we had a certain number of disappointed comments. But in the end everyone got used to it, in just a few months. It will be the same here.

And then there are also tastes and colors...

In any case, Benoît, the team and I are super happy with this in-depth work. And we are very eager to evolve within this new visual identity, optimistic and colorful.

We are all the more excited by this graphic redesign because we feel deep down, and without a doubt , that this identity faithfully represents us, and will effectively serve the BonneGueule project.

And whether the logo changes or not, we remain the same company that some have known since 2007, with the same passion for beautiful craftsmanship, clothes that last, and fabrics that make you feel good. Because there are hearts beating under chambray shirts 🙂

Thanks again for taking this journey with us. And as usual, we are present in the comments to answer all your questions and read all your reactions!

~Benoît, Geoffrey and the entire BonneGueule team

Acknowledgments: Thanks to David Polonia for his kindness, patience and the enormous work on the logo and graphic charter, Michael Lunet for his good humor and the creation of the pictogram, Chloé for her insight and for being a top conductor, and Francesc for his rich participation in the whole process. Not forgetting Oana, Priscille and Jason on the preliminary work, as well as the entire past and present team. As well as Stéphane Wargnier+, and Delphine, Damien, David and Pierre from Bpifrance.