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Brand rejuvenation tutorial, by Pierre Katz

May 2017

How Design Magazine asked Pierre Katz about the creative process behind some of his most iconic brand restorations. Some examples: Rémy Martin, Château de Pommard, Lejay, Ruinart, Favarger and Hermès Parfums. He drew up a brief “surgical” design tutorial for these large houses.

 

“Pierre Katz could be considered one of world’s greatest “facial” rejuvenators of luxury brands. But his tools are typography and elements of design rather than Botox or a scalpel.”

Pierre explains his semiotic approach to the briefs brands give him. The first step always requires to question the nature and motivation of change, the nature of the house, its history, its view of the world and its vision for the future. Then comes the time of research on the signs that make up the mythology of the House. Why was this symbol used in the first place? Are there other signs, other singularities, that deserve to be renovated? What is the purpose of the redesign and what should the redesign accomplish?

 

Concerning the renovation of Ruinart’s logo and packagings, Pierre explains:

 

“Ruinart wanted to bring back their packaging ‘into the light.’ most of all on their flagship, the Blanc de Blancs. All the signs were already there, legitimate, full of character. I cleaned up the coat of arms to make it denser and removed the founding date and put it instead at its base. I redesigned the letters of the Ruinart name, which was in a very characteristic gothic style, to a style of gothic that does not evoke anything rough or Germanic, but rather something ancient and venerable. So I redesigned each letter to make them more luminous, graceful, less-crooked. I also changed the architecture on the label, taking the ‘Blanc de Blancs’ to underneath the Champagne appellation to properly qualify it. There is not a lot of information on this label, but the organization of four different typefaces also gives it its flavor and its quality.”

To read more, find the full article on How Design via the link below:

Pierre Katz: Giving New Faces to Old Luxury Brands