This project was born at a key moment, at a time of special celebration for the 50th anniversary of Paris architecture school Énsa-PB. Every important moment in our lives carries its share of changes and new beginnings and, in this case, a new visual identity. The Énsa-PB is already well-known, and its fame goes beyond the world of specialists and architects, reaching the general public. The need for a new identity was therefore not fueled by any lack of notoriety, but by a lack of practicality and functionality for the users of the previous system, and of consistency as a whole. After a strategic analysis, we built our proposal around one core idea: to put back the human at the heart of the construction.

The 8 -style custom type family (Thin, Light, Regular and Bold, all with matching italics) is the cornerstone of the identity. This typeface draws inspiration from the neo-grotesque sans serif typefaces and their constructed design, as well as from the seriffed, humanist genre. As a way to draw a link between construction and human nature, the typeface is a kind of cross-breeding between these two archetypical styles. From a completely revamped course diagram stems a vocabulary of shapes which are used throughout the communication (and even echo some architectural details from the actual building). Typographic units form letters, numbers and grids, like an urban master plan. The identity, which is in black and white only and constructed on a rigid grid system, can be adapted on a large number of items without losing its cohesive look. Finally, for the 50-year anniversary, we added a couple of graphic elements to mark the events of this special year, playfully indulging in literal symbols of partying such as candles and confettis.