La Cigalière is an entertainment venue located in Sérignan in the south of France. It offers a varied program, presented in the form of a season. The venue is distinguished by its bold, contemporary architecture, which weaves links between the old town and the natural spaces on the banks of the Orb. The architecture, by Nicolas Guillot, and the design of the outdoor spaces, marked by Daniel Buren’s columns, lead the audience into a world of meditation and culture. The venue is designed to take spectators from the public square to the stage, a place of cultural influence.

Studio Asensò was commissioned to revamp La Cigalière’s visual identity. An expressive, meaningful brand image was created around the only existing element: the logo.

Creating a strong brand image

Our redesign work is based on the visual elements of the existing identity, namely the logotype and in particular its typographic characters, which refer to the building’s radiating architecture (see photos below), as well as the vertical geometric shapes and lines of the architecture.

The repetitive modules found in the original logo also refer to the venue’s name and local characteristics. This is where our redesign comes into its own. In effect, it allows us to combine existing distinctive elements into a single conceptual entity: the cigalière, the land where the cicadas flock. The notion of “cigalière” refers directly to the environment of the site, to the cicadas, to the midday sun.

A story of cicadas

The link between cicadas and this showroom becomes obvious. The cicada is an insect known for its singing. But the connection doesn’t stop there. A cicada’s song could be described as a trill in music. A trill is the rapid, prolonged beating of two notes one tone or semitone apart. If we were to illustrate this notion visually, we’d end up with a simple, regular graphic motif, just like the repetitive patterns found all around La Cigalière, whether on Buren’s columns, on the floor or even on the building’s sunshades.

When you say cicada, you mean several cicadas. Several trilliums intermingle and coordinate to amplify the song of one cicada. This is exactly the role of La Cigalière: to amplify the words of artists, to carry the voice of culture into its environment, sharing it with as many people as possible. It becomes a meeting place, a place of cultural abundance, a place for the propagation of art. This redesign of the visual identity is at one with the site, telling its story and reflecting its uniqueness. It becomes the voice of La Cigalière.