Legendre+Rutter » competition

Connecting the Dots for Centre Pompidou

Legendre Rutter — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:59:42 +0000

The new Centre Pompidou in the French city of Metz is scheduled to open its doors in May, 2010. Designed by Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, along with Jean de Gastine of France and Philip Gumuchdjian of the UK, this extraordinary building has been in development for more than 5 years. While awaiting its opening, the Centre Pompidou-Metz presented (May 15 to October 4) an exhibition entitled “Constellation,” a sneak preview aimed at discovering major works from the Centre Pompidou collection. These works were displayed in key heritage and cultural sites throughout the Metz Metropolitan area and the Grande Région. Alongside these works, internationally renowned artists designed special projects especially for this event.

Legendre+Rutter were invited to submit a proposition for this citywide exhibition, which we are happy to share with you here. The proposal centered on the idea of assembling a new “celestial body,” formed of abstracted contemporary masterworks from the Pompidou’s collection. This new object would form the basis of the identity of the “Constellation” exhibition.

The individual components would be printed in sequence, with a portion of exhibition posters printed in one color, a portion in two colors, and so on, until the final seven-color object was built.

To push this idea to its extreme, but logical conclusion, we also proposed that the orb would appear as a lone icon of the exhibition during the day. Throughout the city of Metz, these large orbs of various colors and construction would act as personal constellations for the citizens, with each person making their own connection from one to the next, based on his or her own path.

Because the posters would be placed in backlight kiosks, we took advantage of the opportunity to have the poster transform from daytime to night. In darkness, the light from behind the poster would reveal the title, location, and date of the exhibition.

Poster during the day vs. poster displayed at night

Both the orb and the typographic composition could be used as core components of the identity.

The idea of bringing together various components to form the whole was to be extended to all of the promotional and communication materials associated with the exhibition, including brochures, invitations, and merchandising. For the invitation, we conceived a system of cards, all cut from larger press sheets containing the whole orb. Upon entry to the event, the attendee’s card would be positioned within a matrix drawn on the wall. Ultimately, the full, large image would take shape.

Being able to design an identity for “Constellation” that has meaning both through its visualization, as well as through the shared civic experience created by the system and implementation of the program, made this proposal a very satisfying effort for us. Although the Centre Pompidou ultimately did not produce our proposed solution, we look back on it as some of our best work of 2009.

100 Posters in 24 Cities

Legendre Rutter — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:27:59 +0000

On December 10, 2009, the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an exhibition of 100 posters opened in 24 cities around the world. The organizer of this network of exhibitions is a group called “Poster 4 Tomorrow,” who can boast partnerships with Reporters Sans Frontiers, Amnesty International Italy, UNESCO, Council of Europe, and others. The juried competition to create the 100-poster collection drew 1,834 entries from dozens of countries. All 100 posters are available for high res download and free distribution at the poster4tomorrow website.

Selected images from December 10 openings in (from top to bottom): Milan, Paris, Seville, Chonan, La Paz, Derry, Los Angeles, and Montreal

Where Have All the (U.S.) Posters Gone?

Legendre Rutter — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:58:25 +0000

We can argue all day and night about why the printed poster is disappearing from the visual landscape, but the truth is that posters are still being produced all over the world. Designers everywhere are creating posters that are well-conceived and beautifully crafted, but there is evidence that the poster is simply not taken as seriously in the U.S. as it is in almost every other part of the industrialized world. As evidence, look at the major International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA) endorsed poster competitions around the world over the past year. Very few US designers enter these competitions and, for the most part, even fewer win anything.

Two such competitions stand out: the prestigious Toyama International Poster Triennial in Japan and the China International Poster Biennial. At Toyama, of the 4,516 posters submitted for judging from 49 countries, only 52 were from the USA. And of those, only 7 were selected for exhibition at the Toyama Museum of Modern Art (out of 409 exhibited). In China, the numbers were even more stark: of the 178 posters selected from all entries, 106 came from Asia, 66 from Europe, and only 5 came from all of North and South America.

What can we say? We’re trying to do our part to keep the American poster alive on the international design scene. Legendre+Rutter had three finalists chosen for exhibition in Toyama and four of the five US posters selected in China.

Finalists in the Toyama International Poster Triennial: “Cet Obscur Objet du Désir” by Legendre+Rutter and "Imagination" by Yann Legendre

"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Lance Rutter, Toyama Poster Triennial

Finalists in the China International Poster Biennial: "Niki de Sant Phalle" and "Fantasmagoria Fukuda" by Yann Legendre

Finalists in the China International Poster Biennial: "Music Awards Dinner" and "Homage to Mucha" by Lance Rutter