French logo version

RSF – Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders) was founded in the French city of Montpellier in 1985 and named following the model of the Doctors Without Borders. Since 1995 the non-profit and non-governmental organization has its seat in Paris. It’s self-chosen purpose is to promote freedom of press and to defend and help persecuted journalists – and that worldwide. 13 national and regional offices and 146 correspondents form a network around the globe.

A problem in the field of communication arose with the translation of Reporters Without Border’s name into many languages and with diverging designs developed over time by the different offices. In 2020 RSF’s headquarter commissioned Paris-based agency BETC to redraw a top-level corporate design that would unify the international presence while leaving a lot of freedom on the lower levels. In this post you see images taken from the Reporters sans frontières Mini Guideline 2020, from RSF’s website and from magazines designed by Stéphanie Barcelo and Modular Agency.

Since the introduction, all offices use the initials RSF in front of the translation of the full name in the given language. Both the logo and the name are set from Media Sans SemiCondensed designed by Jean-Baptiste Levée from Production Type. The face is also used worldwide for typesetting the headlines. A major advantage of Media Sans in this use are its extremely short ascenders and descenders: this way headlines using lowercase letters are as impressive as those set in all caps.

With regard to the reading text, the French headquarter chose Akzidenz-Grotesk and its Condensed variant as companions.

Some of the international logo versions: Portuguese, English, Spanish, and German

Business cards

Membership cards

Homepage

Annual report 2023, Portuguese edition. Publication design by Stéphanie Barcelo.

Collateral Freedom on the English language version of the website

Cover of What It’s Like to Be a Journalist in the Sahel (2023). Publication design by Stéphanie Barcelo.

Map with key facts from What It’s Like to Be a Journalist in the Sahel (2023)

Barometer on the 2024 World Press Freedom Index

Mask up! Covers for the annual reports from the first two years dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic

Publication overview on the Portuguese language version of the website

Media Sans is heavily used on RSF’s social media channels, too.

Artagon is a French association that supports, promotes and accompanies emerging artists: it was founded in 2014 by the artistic directors and curators Anna Labouze and Keimis Henni. Primarily known for the organization of graduate students exhibitions all around Europe, Artagon also offers various programmes of lectures, exhibitions, encounters, and professional trainings on all aspects of an artist's activity.

In 2021, Artagon underwent a change of identity, realized in collaboration with BETC Paris. The new logotype is thought of as an animation and is therefore in constant motion. All of the letters either change in their height or baseline. According to Artagon, the elasticity of the letters leading to a variation in height depending on the supports represents the fact that Artagon has always been a springboard for young artists. This animated logotype is also composed of a star, the only graphical element present right from the start: the star is not a static detail of the sign, but rather functions like a stamp that punctuates the visuals on any position of the format. This evolutive identity is playful and speaks to a young generation of artists who show qualities of adaptation and curiosity to explore new horizons.

Even though the logotype is a custom lettering job, its inspiration comes from Mars from Production Type, which is used in its Extended width for the rest of the identity. While Artagon's logo is condensed and has a pretty light weight, resembling Mars Condensed, Mars Extended comes as a counterweight and lends a more contemporary look to the identity. The combination with primary colors makes it pop, but without losing the institutional image the association needs.

Animated logotype

Poster template variations

Poster template variations

Flyer template