Julien Lagardère

A look back at your ESMA years

What was your course of study before joining esma? And your career path at esma?

I’ve always been interested in drawing. I’ve been drawing more and more since I was a kid. I looked for jobs that were closer to that, the opportunity to create. After my A-levels, to reassure my parents a little, I did a DUT in logistics and transport, because they were afraid that drawing wasn’t really a job and that there weren’t any openings. At the time (2005), it wasn’t perceived in the same way as it is now, and there wasn’t the whole digital environment, the Internet, that is now driving these professions. I studied for two years to tick the boxes, so to speak. Then I decided to go to ESMA after visiting a student fair.

What was your career path at esma?

At the time, ESMA was offering a BTS in Visual Communication (editor’s note: now it’s a Cycle Professionnel in Graphic Design). I did a year of levelling (MANAA) and then two years of what we would now call graphic design.

How do you feel about the course?

I really liked the freedom and variety of subjects we worked on. We covered a lot in two years. They were years of fulfilment for me, I progressed at every level. I was in the right place at the right time.

How did your professional integration go after leaving esma?

In fact, I was very lucky. I had studied with the aim of working in the board sports and extreme sports sector, because that’s something I really enjoy. The summer I graduated, I found a job in Bali in the surfing industry (69Slam). I worked there straight away for a year, and it was the ideal way to get into the graphic design profession. It was a mix between a great holiday and professional fulfilment.

I was able to use what I’d learnt at ESMA from a professional point of view and, above all, to be really creative. I designed the motifs that were then printed on the fabrics that would be used to make the suits and also the clothes to promote the brand. There were also designs for sailboards.

Then I went back to France, did a bit of freelance work and then got a job at Cdiscount.

Your career path

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROFESSION? WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT IT? HAVE YOU PROGRESSED WITH THE COMPANY?

I joined as a replacement for a maternity leave and then I ended up being hired in 2014. I’m still here. This will be my tenth year, and I’ve changed quite a lot in terms of my tasks and, above all, my scope. The face of the ‘creative’ business at Cdiscount has changed quite a bit too.

I’m artistic director, responsible for around fifteen people whom I manage. I have different jobs in my department: photographer, graphic designers, motion designers, web designers, illustrators.

Can you tell us about the different projects you’re working on?

To describe what I do today, I’d say it’s putting into images the commercial concepts for highlighting the products we sell and supporting the site’s sales drive with relevant visuals that help customers to be attracted by our offers. And then there’s the work of visual identity and the 360° application of Cdiscount’s identity to all media, in other words its existence outside the site, given that we don’t have any shops.

Art direction means carrying out projects that I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own, but which wouldn’t be the way they are if I wasn’t there.

It wasn’t a direct objective at the outset, but I knew that by joining Cdiscount, there was a lever for professional fulfilment by climbing the ladder and thus acquiring responsibilities and widening my field of action. You have to want it! I was able to make a good pitch to management by acting as a link between the creative profiles and the sales people.

I’m still involved in the purely operational side of things, but I still keep in touch with my operational people.

In conclusion

WHERE WILL YOU BE IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?

It’s hard to say! I never thought I’d be at Cdiscount for 10 years, and yet I’m still here. This company has the ability to pull off the Phoenix and always come back to life. In the end, there’s a lot of renewal.

AN ULTIMATE AMBITION?

I’ve always loved images, so I’m drawn to the cinema. I don’t see how I can get any closer to it, it will probably remain in the realm of fantasy. Working together one day, why not!

Advice for future students..

I’d say this to anyone starting out in graphic design: keep in mind that it’s an interconnected profession with at least three or four surrounding professions. On its own, it has very little reason to exist. It’s a cog in the system. That means you can join a company fairly quickly and be up and running fairly quickly.