Looking beyond graphic design

Attempting to be “useful”, to build, to build together with enjoyment and imagination, to break through the dullness of what is “normal”, to push boundaries through wonderment.

Those are the goals of the collaboration between the graphic designers at the workshop Nous Travaillons Ensemble and the La Forge association. The graphic designers have established a visual identity for the association’s projects since its creation in 1994. One example is their involvement in designing Rendez-vous du Fleuve 2010, a festival created by the regional authorities in the Somme valley, in the Picardy region of northern France. 

As part of the project, La Forge took the first step in a long process of reflection: “Where should one live? Why? With whom? How?”

Photographers, writers, historians, landscape architects, sociologists, visual artists and residents took part in the initiative. Nous Travaillons Ensemble developed communication resources for the festival and helped design and produce scenography full of discoveries, which included a barge for public readings, abandoned houses repurposed as exhibition space, a cinema and a venue for live shows. The book “Nous sommes ici”, published by Conseil Général de la Somme and Dumerchez, takes a look back at the festival (ISBN-978-2-84791-161-9).