Founded in January 2021, Design Occitanie is the reference association for design in the Occitanie region. Its mission is to federate the region’s designers and become a veritable center for resources, action and communication around regional design. It is aimed primarily at designers, companies, local authorities and institutions, with the ambition of structuring a solid, dynamic network across all sectors.

At the crossroads of design, economic development and local know-how, Design Occitanie supports the integration of design within companies and local authorities, while promoting creative collaborations. The association works to raise the profile of Occitan designers on a regional and national scale, and encourages economic players to integrate design more widely into their innovation strategies. A stimulating and forward-looking challenge!

A logotype that reflects
Design Occitanie’s vision

The starting point for the communication was the Design Occitanie logotype, which reflects the intentions of the association. The graphic language chosen reflects the diversity of disciplines (object design, graphic design, space design, service design, etc.) through a set of duplicated nets. Their interweaving symbolizes both the idea of network and the union of members that the organization wishes to embody.

Thanks to its visual strength and versatility, the acronym becomes a generator of shapes, laying the foundations for a strong, recognizable graphic universe. A first series of signs and punctuation marks completes this visual identity, bringing rhythm, coherence and richness to communication media, in both form and content.

Typography made in Occitania

To design this new identity, we drew on the overall context of the project: its geographical, historical and cultural dimensions, and more. The territory, represented here by the Occitanie region, played a central role in our choices, particularly typographic ones.

It was therefore natural for us to turn to the typographic culture specific to Occitania, and more particularly to the Scriptorium de Toulouse, an iconic typography center located in the heart of the region. We chose FF Sanuk, a font designed by Xavier Dupré and published by Monotype. The FF Sanuk Big version, without serifs, stands out for its legibility and calligraphic roots. We chose it for the finesse of its design and its specific characteristics, but also as a tribute to the Scriptorium, a major institution, and to the pioneers of typographic design in France.

Xavier Dupré, creator of this font, is a type designer trained in applied arts in Valence, in graphic design in Paris, then in calligraphy and typography at the Scriptorium de Toulouse, under the guidance of Bernard Arin and Rodolphe Giuglardo.

A solar color for signalling,
highlighting, making visible

Our approach is based on two strong intentions: to offer clear visibility to designers in the Occitanie region, in line with the association’s ambitions, and to encourage connections between these professionals and the region’s economic players around the dynamics of design.

Design Occitanie also aims to identify and promote regional designers through a directory and map available on its website. This promotion is complemented by regular activities (meetings, exhibitions, events) that help to forge concrete and lasting links. Although numerous, designers in the region often remain invisible to the local economic fabric. Thanks to the visual identity deployed, our role is therefore to “highlight” them, like a fluorescent marker, to reveal their skills and bring them to the fore.

Today, Occitanie’s designers have a color that identifies them – an emblematic fluorescent yellow – and a space to express themselves, meet and build a lively, active network.

Our warmest thanks go to Xavier Dupré (honorary member of the association) and Monotype for the license to use the FF Sanuk Big.