Zoo

What is the story of Zoo ? BDE: We all three had experience in agencies before creating Zoo. I worked with Pierre Bernard for more than a year being his assistant, then I wanted to do my own projects. I started to canvass customers as a freelance. Julie had several experiences in small workshops. JG: Yes, I worked as a freelance too, here and there, including Les Grandes Personnes Publishing and Jalou Publishing, and also with a friend who was working in Russia. It was many small various projects but very formative. VT: Personally, I worked a little in Belgium: three months in Ghent in an art publishing house and then three months in Brussels in a larger agency called Base Design. It's when I came back that we found each other again to work together. We started responding to a call to tender, that we did not get, but it initiated our collaboration. BDE: We quickly felt we were complementary with our three different approaches of graphic design. We started with small projects before it seemed obvious to us to be partners. We sought a name, it was not simple. We found Zoo. I don't remember exactly who found it, I think it was at the fourth bottle of wine. Someone said 'Zoo', and we all agreed. There were three letters, we were three. We are now associated for two years. We have very various kind of customers: we work with many publishers and architects. We are also working for luxury and advertising groups. We even did textile design, but it's true that we are perhaps more oriented to culture, publishing and architecture. For each project, we try not to get into a predefined style: we want to have style and not a style. VT: It is been about a year since we moved here. BDE: At the beginning, we worked in our respective apartments in Montreuil, in the 20th, and then in the 17th district. Then we thought we really had to find a workspace. When things started to go well, we visited offices and found this one, it is small, but charming.

Do you have a particular way of working as a trio ? BDE: It depends on orders and customers, and also on the context and the amount of time we have. JG: Generally, when we start a project, we all seek ideas, we discuss together what directions to take. Then we seek on our own, and provide an overview. The three of us can eliminate fast enough the guidelines that are not good, and find the combinations that work. VT: It is true that the number three is convenient because it allows to quickly make decisions, if you are two against one, the idea is approved. JG: In general, there is still someone who is in charge of the project and follows all the relations with the client to make exchanges more fluid. As we said before, we complement each others, we have three different personalities and areas in which we are more or less comfortable. Baptiste is better at the commercial aspect for example. Even though we have no defined role, we go naturally towards things that fit us.

Do you feel concerned by the "virtualization" of graphic design ? BDE: We generally have a proximity with our customers. Moreover, they are mainly in Paris. We try to have in the flesh relationships with them. JG: Overall, we really like meeting the people and doing work meetings. I think it's the way to make the most interesting and successful things. BDE: But it may depend on projects. For example, we are currently working for the Palace of Versailles. For them, we have been working remotely, we only met them after several months.

After two years of collaboration, do you have any particular projects cravings ? BDE: For now, we have made a lot of books. We would like to do further visual identities, that is what we are currently undertaking. We also want to develop our digital work: we would like to do more motion design and websites. JG: Signage is a great interest for us as well. Even though we love working with printed matters, we love breaking out of paper and exploring space. Interview conducted in November 2015 ©ktlg