French Influence
Recently, we were given a project to create a small series of selected works by the major French Symbolist poets, beginning with Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, and Paul Verlaine. The first goal was to make a series that held the four initial books together, but was flexible to accommodate further titles/poets in the future. The second goal was to create a fresh look and feel that would make these works appealing to a contemporary audience.
As with all of our projects, we extensively researched the subject matter and, in this case, previous publications about the poets. We found that the design of many of the more recent books, of which there were not too many, was already outdated or did not have a particularly engaging interface to appeal to nonspecialists of French literature.
The cover of Paul Valéry’s Les Bucoliques de Virgile, illustrated by Jacques Villon and published by Scripta & Picta in 1953
All of our design is informed by the theme of the project at hand. We can adapt a prior convention or create an entirely new one. After seeing the selection of books available on these poets, we began to consider an original approach, playing with the topics of the poems to create motifs and typographies. Then, we stumbled on a book by one of the latter Symbolists, Paul Valéry, which inspired us.
It is a book that was published by Scripta & Picta in Paris, in 1953, with original color lithographs by Jacques Villon. We drew upon the illustration Villon made for the cover, adapting the palette and circles for our new series. Villon’s artwork was so well conceived that it remains vibrant and appealing nearly seventy-five years later, and offers wonderful pairings of all the colors.
Stéphane Mallarmé’s maquette that shows his typesetting preferences for his poem “Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard” (“A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance”), 1897
We also, of course, could not resist Stéphane Mallarmé’s own studies for the typesetting of his poems. We redeployed his ideas in the interiors of the books, and added some parts in color, using Villon’s palette. Our ad campaign, which features the books’ covers, announces the return of the Symbolists to Paris—and everywhere. We’re delighted to see them out and about again.
Prototype for the ad campaign for the Symbolist poets’ new book series, designed by Atelier Ravel, 2021
To see our other design iterations for this project, click here. And we hope this article has inspired you to pick up a book by one of these poets, whether it’s our newly designed version or another. It is our objective, through refreshed design and otherwise, to keep great writings and works of art in circulation, available to readers and viewers at all times and in all places.