The Béziers Méditerranée conurbation, the Communauté de communes La Domitienne and the Communauté de communes Sud-Hérault have joined forces to obtain the national label Grand Site de France. In parallel with this approach, the three intercommunities also joined forces to respond to the regional call for Grand Site Occitanie applications, and were awarded the label in April 2018. The aim of the Grand Site de France operation is to preserve, manage and enhance the exceptional Canal du Midi between Capestang and Béziers. The aim is also to better control the flow of visitors to the various sites of interest included within the perimeter, and to support the development of tourism on the future Grand Site.

The aim of this initiative is to promote a different way of discovering the Grand Site through an approach directly inspired by slow tourism: exploring the Canal du Midi on foot, by bike, or by barge.

Visual identity concept

Located in the Languedoc plain, west of the city of Béziers, which it partly encompasses, the Grand Site territory is situated in the Hérault department (Occitanie), 20 km from Narbonne and 80 km from Montpellier. It is a region of vineyards, plains dotted with puechs (small hills, often inhabited) and crossed by capricious waterways, halfway between the foothills of the Massif Central (Montagne Noire) and the Mediterranean coast.

The Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has two of its major sites within the territory proposed for the Grand Site Operation. The Malpas Tunnel and the nine locks at Fonseranes are both iconic and highly visited sites, with Fonseranes being the third most visited site in Languedoc-Roussillon, attracting 450,000 visitors annually.

With the aim of developing a visual identity that reflects the unique characteristics of the site (authenticity, serenity, discovery) and inviting travelers to appreciate and preserve its landscapes, we have created an illustrated universe that takes shape through the concept of slow tourism. Slow tourism is a tourism concept that favors nearby destinations and environmentally friendly modes of transportation, such as bicycles, boats, and walking. It also encourages taking the time to discover a destination and promotes the virtues of slowness.

Immerse yourself in nature with
an immersive photo report

Like an inventory, but also an introduction to the project, nature photographer Sandra Bérénice Michel contributed to a report with an ethical approach and perspective. Sandra also emphasized sharing this unique experience in order to promote the site’s heritage even before the end of the project, notably by sharing her work day after day with hundreds, even thousands, of people on social media. The focus was on the fauna, flora, historical heritage, landscapes, and activities around the iconic heart, a brief excerpt of which is provided below.

The visual identity of the Grand Site Canal du Midi Béziers is expressed through the use of a colorful palette generated and created from the photographic work of Sandra Bérénice Michel. The palette is inspired by the atmospheres, lights, and colors that travelers discover along the Grand Site. Using Sandra’s photographs as a source of inspiration, three color palettes were developed: Nature, Architecture, and Culture. These are harmonized by intermediate shades that offer an authentic, natural, and soothing color range. The color blue, initially used in existing institutional communications (Grand Site de France label), served as a central starting point around which this new palette was built.

A tribute to Pierre-Paul Riquet

A font was specially designed for the project, naturally named “Riquet” in homage to Pierre-Paul Riquet, an illustrious figure from Béziers who designed and built the Canal du Midi.

Riquet is a geometric typeface directly inspired by the fonts used on the signposts along the Canal du Midi. Designed in standard and condensed versions, the font is designed for readability and acts as an identity marker.

This font is paired with Recoleta, a typeface designed by Latinotype that is unique and poetic, combining several vernacular elements such as roundness and serifs, and expressing the brand’s slow and friendly character.

A logo inspired by the markers along the canal

For the sake of consistency and respect for the history of the place, the logo is constructed like a typographic block, using the Riquet font designed specifically for this purpose. This font reinterprets the visual and typographic codes that travelers encounter on the signposts along the Canal du Midi. This ensures that travelers are not confused by the different information media they may encounter, as all are designed to be harmonious and bear the same mark.

Designed in the form of a cartouche, the logo exists in different versions: square/rectangular, horizontal, and in the form of a terminal, with the aim of being effectively integrated into maps published by local tourism stakeholders.

A graphic universe composed of slow illustrations

The visual identity, and in particular the communication territory, is developed through the creation and implementation of an illustrated universe. To achieve this, we first took an artistic direction that allowed us to define a tone and style, and then brought in Cococlouds, one of our favorite illustrators who was perfect for this project. She worked on creating a series of scenes and pictograms defined in advance.

The illustrated world differs from the usual tourist destinations on the Languedoc coast. The scenes depicting characters as they explore the Canal du Midi convey feelings of well-being, warmth, and patience. Their settings also spark curiosity. The aim of this little illustrated world is to convey values in line with the promise made to visitors: to discover nature, architecture, and local culture at their own pace!

Find attractive locations using the illustrated map

An illustrated (and interactive) map has also been created for inclusion on the future Grand Site website. This map uses a graphic style similar to the previous illustrations and allows users to quickly grasp the geography of the site, appreciate its flora and fauna, locate major tourist attractions, view access routes and parking facilities for the various sites within the Grand Site, and locate gentle walking and cycling trails

The map is available at www.grandsitecanaldumidi.fr

Production of promotional and educational materials

Do you love the Canal du Midi? Now you can take it with you thanks to a range of personalized items that tourism operators will be selling at tourist offices across the region. The visual identity has been applied to stationery, tote bags, mugs, and even clothing.

Educational and informational materials were also published and distributed with the aim of raising awareness among local communicators and public decision-makers about visual identity, compliance with these rules of use, and their implementation.