2020
Médiathèque for
l’Institut Français
d’Égypte
BRANDING & SIGNAGE
The Institut Français d’Égypte houses 3 Médiathèques across Egypt. They are 3 beautiful spaces (in Mounira, Heliopolis and in Alexandria) where you can loan out books, magazines and other types of media. They are also spaces where you are welcome to spend the day researching, studying, working , listening to music, watching films etc.
In 2019, the IFE was renovating the Mounira branch of the Médiathèques, with the help of Cluster, and approached me about simultaneously working on a rebrand so that the reopening would coincide with a more contemporary and coherent visual identity, tying all 3 locations together. Previously there was a logo, but not much else in terms of a visual identity, and so the Médiathèques did not communicate any particular brand personality, which meant that most of their marketing efforts were lost in the clutter.
In 2019, the IFE was renovating the Mounira branch of the Médiathèques, with the help of Cluster, and approached me about simultaneously working on a rebrand so that the reopening would coincide with a more contemporary and coherent visual identity, tying all 3 locations together. Previously there was a logo, but not much else in terms of a visual identity, and so the Médiathèques did not communicate any particular brand personality, which meant that most of their marketing efforts were lost in the clutter.
The main idea that the IFE wanted to put forth was of the Médiathèque as a ‘tiers-lieu’ - a ‘third place’ - other than the home and the workplace, where people can commune and exchange ideas. We wanted to show the Médiathèque as a place that is on the one hand modern, technologically advanced and serious, while at the same time showing that it can be an inviting, warm place where people can feel at home and at ease.
The logo and extended brand identity have the very simple idea of referencing a Venn diagram, showing that the Médiathèque lives at the intersection of different types of worlds - the home and the office, the domestic and the professional/ educational etc. And what we wanted to do with the extended identity was to create room for various tones in communication: the Médiathèque holds very different types of events, from school trips to concerts to publication launches to exhibitions, and so it was important to create an identity that can be translated into different tones whether light-hearted, childish, serious and sober, fun and loud etc.
The logo and extended brand identity have the very simple idea of referencing a Venn diagram, showing that the Médiathèque lives at the intersection of different types of worlds - the home and the office, the domestic and the professional/ educational etc. And what we wanted to do with the extended identity was to create room for various tones in communication: the Médiathèque holds very different types of events, from school trips to concerts to publication launches to exhibitions, and so it was important to create an identity that can be translated into different tones whether light-hearted, childish, serious and sober, fun and loud etc.
As an extension of the brand identity I worked with architect Alya El Chiati to consult on the interiors and furniture purchases. Together we chose a different combination of the new identity’s brand colors for each room/ area of the Médiathèque in Mounira so that the brand identity would come through in the choice of furniture thus providing a more complete experience for visitors.
As part of the project, I also worked on the signage, alongside Cluster, from wayfinding signage and room/ area identification signage all the way down to bookshelf and section labeling for each category and sub-category of media. This also served to create consistency in the brand and experience and communicate the same cues from the membership card, to social media posts down to the actual navigation within the space.
As part of the project, I also worked on the signage, alongside Cluster, from wayfinding signage and room/ area identification signage all the way down to bookshelf and section labeling for each category and sub-category of media. This also served to create consistency in the brand and experience and communicate the same cues from the membership card, to social media posts down to the actual navigation within the space.
