La petite robe noire

“I am absolutely essential and totally irresistible. I am the chic and terribly glamorous Guerlain fragrance creation. I am the Little Black Dress.” These are the words with which Guerlain defines its creation, its iconic fragrance that saw the light of day in 2009. Founded in 1828, this Parisian house has become a key player in the world of luxury, contributing to the international reputation of French luxury. Several of its creations, such as Shalimar and Eau de Guerlain, have become benchmarks.

For their part, the original creators of the famous Little Black Dress silhouette were thought up and imagined by the Kuntzel Deygas duo. To carry out this mission, the artists wanted to move away from the current clichés of using famous personalities, preferring to give life to an illustration embodying a character, a black silhouette, whose face remains masked by a large hat.

The duo’s unique graphic style has won over major brands such as SNCF, Veuve Clicquot champagne, Renault and even the cinema, with illustrations for the opening credits of the film Arrête-moi si tu peux and Le Petit Nicolas. But that’s just a small sample of their work. And it goes without saying that following in the footsteps of such renowned artists is quite a challenge for our students!

Teacher Olivia Vidil chose this subject in her graphic design classes for her Prépa Entertainement students because“it’s about a communication image, a brand universe in which you have to integrate a logotype, a baseline, a packshot and a drawn muse, all with great respect for a great brand that is emblematic of French luxury”. Quite a programme!

SUBJECT OF THE EXERCISE

Perfumer Guerlain is asking you to renew its attitude library for their designed muse: the Little Black Dress. Suggest ten or so silhouettes and use at least one of them in an advert. It’s important to remain consistent with the brand’s universe.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE EXERCISE

• a3 portrait format,
• a3 portrait advert,
• respect the graphic charter: black – white – pink,
• propose a modern, free and sparkling muse,
• respect the brand’s universe,
• free technique,
• in teams of two or on your own.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE

This workshop enables students to build a communication project that is legible, impactful and full of meaning. The students had to compose, combine and balance the many iconographic and typographic elements. Of course, since the brand is real, they also had to make sure they respected the graphic charter and the brand universe. As the brand is known and recognised by everyone, it was important not to stray too far from the existing concept.

To do this, the students first had to get to grips with the style of the silhouette, its morphology and its graphic style, and then compile dynamic and casual attitudes to renew the library of attitudes. Time was then devoted to researching the dress, shapes, textures and graphic enhancements, while taking care to stay within the colour code: black, pink and white.

TECHNIQUES USED

Coloured pencils.