The studio’s founders, Johan Debit and Jean-Rémi, talk us through their latest identity, where typography, graphics and structure collide in harmony.
You might be interested to learn that neither of the co-founders of Brand Brothers studied design. Johan Debit, a graphic designer and type designer born in Paris, studied geography. Meanwhile, Jean-Rémi is from Toulouse and studied law. “It was our common passion that brought us together,” says Johan. Since founding the studio in 2010, the team have worked with nearly 200 clients to develop visual identities, focusing largely on typography and experimentation.
The studio’s latest release is an identity for Rosamund, a video and production company based in France. Bold and punchy, the studio wanted to pair the identity with Rosamund’s “sensitive and rigorous” output, says Johan. “It is this accuracy and precision, translated into a structured typogram, that guided our reflection.” The lettering is structural and snake-like as it appears almost endless in form; the characters were also created just for the occasion of the identity and conceived with a “very specific rhythm”. Johan adds: “It conveys a great visual intensity, thus translating the artistic choices of the agency.”
Throughout the process, the team encountered one real challenge: the design of the typogram. “Keeping strict geometrical rules while achieving perfect alignments between the characters required a lot of iterations, but this type of typographic design does not tolerate approximations!” Therefore there were a few set factors, including the upward flash of the D, which follows the D of Rosa. Johan refers to this part of the process as “satisfying” when they developed it. “This kind of typographic detail is, in my opinion, the strength of a visual identity. It makes the brand incomparable because of its specificity and the ingenious side of its construction.”
The finished result shows how designers don’t have to follow any rules or guidelines. Because, even though Rosamund produces films, the studio decided against anything too cinematic or image-heavy – it would have diluted the logo. “The two can coexist with equal strength, and the identity can serve their production,” says Johan. “To date, our audience has received this work very well and has understood our approach perfectly. The feedback has been excellent, both on the client-side and with our community, and we are thrilled!”
