Citéco, a visual identity for a cultural project... about the economy!

Citéco is a Banque de France project involving the creation of a museographic space dedicated to economic culture. The aim is to meet the strong demand from the general public for better access to economic culture. In a fun and educational way, the mechanisms of the economy are made comprehensible to all, through group games, videos and multimedia installations.

To convey the values of this project, we chose to create a logo with round shapes, while continuing to reflect on the creation of an original name. This logotype is based above all on a choice of name: the creation of the title ‘Citéco’. Easier to read and shorter than the official name, both ‘salient’ and ‘reassuring’, it is a vector of modernity, innovation and creativity. It has a strong visual impact and makes it easier for the public to remember the project. Citéco emphasises the civic and educational nature of the Cité. It also keeps its full name, Cité de l’économie et de la monnaie, which appears in full on the brand block. This ‘naming’ solution, combined with an appropriate graphic layout, makes it possible to create a brand that is close to its public, which is a major asset for developing effective communication and a strong reputation among Paris’s cultural and museographic offerings.

Recreational data-visualisation and hair folly

Data-visualisation is the art of representing data visually. Presenting data in an illustrated form makes it easier to read and understand, and it is difficult to represent the economy without the help of data-visualisation. The Citéco logo refers to a pie chart. This is an example of data-visualisation. We propose to base Citéco’s iconography on this type of representation, adding a few grams of creativity… Data-visualisation graphics, while relevant in the context of the economy, are a cold and impersonal language. We therefore chose to humanise and embody these visual codes to give an accessible vision of the economy. We chose to showcase the “dataviz” spirit in an unexpected context: the hair and clothing styles of Citéco visitors!

To mark the birth of Citéco, the visuals for the information campaign suggest that, with the right educational resources, including those made available by Citéco, anyone can take an interest in the economy and even get a taste for it. They also emphasise that humour, evoked by the play on the usual graphic codes of economics (curves, histograms, diagrams, etc.), helps to educate.

In short, the new visual identity conveys Citéco’s key values: modernity, proximity, accessibility, simplicity, education and citizenship. Read more about the identity design and the backstage photo shoot on our blog.