Les librairies indépendantes

Les librairies indépendantes Les librairies indépendantes

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Services: brand identity, campaign, digital design, verbal identity & naming, motion design
Sectors: art & culture, publishing, social media, retail & services, not-for-profit
: Voice recordings by Benoît Poelvoorde, illustrations by Simon Demeuter, copy by Place Publique
: SLFB — Syndicat des librairies francophones de belgique

Over the past decade, local, independent bookstores and small businesses have increasingly seen their sales threatened by the presence of chains, online mega-platforms, and a general disinterest in purchasing books in physical form. The SLFB (The French-speaking booksellers’ union of Belgium) therefore decided to launch an awareness campaign that would get readers back into independent shops and rekindle their love for printed matter. Under the activism-forward slogan “Achetons toujours nos livres dans les librairies indépendantes” (“Let’s always buy our books in independent bookstores”), we co-crafted a movement whose mascot was a pair of eyes and whose visual identity was vibrant, direct, upfront, and playful. An opportunity was also seized to review the SLFB’s branding, which we updated in tandem with the campaign.

The illustrations by Simon Demeuter, verbal identity by Place Publique, and a voiceover by none other than Benoît Poelvoorde bear witness to the collaborative nature of this project. A poster campaign, motion screens, leaflets, and flyers were distributed in all French-speaking Belgian territories, while partner bookshops got involved by displaying eyes of different colors and sizes in their windows and interiors.

Not only did the campaign, deployed on social media, on French-language radio stations, and via a temporary website, make a lasting impression on the Belgian public, but it was also widely commented upon in the French press as an effective way to save small businesses from being swallowed by the big sharks.

Over the past decade, independent bookstores and small businesses have been threatened by the presence of chains, online mega-platforms. The French-speaking booksellers’ union of Belgium (SFLB) therefore decided to launch an awareness campaign that would get readers back into independent shops and rekindle their love for printed matter. We co-crafted a movement whose mascot was a pair of eyes and whose visual identity was vibrant, direct, upfront, and playful.

The illustrations by Simon Demeuter, verbal identity by Place Publique, and a voiceover by none other than Benoît Poelvoorde bear witness to the collaborative and inclusive nature of this project.