An abstract graphic design in bold blue, red, yellow and green shapes against a black background. A list of titles in French is printed on the left, including “Démissionnaire” and “Badboy”.

Check out hyper cool French Canadian design collective, Charmant & Courtois

Words: Liv Siddall
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Date: 9 December 2014; Work
Graphic Design

Recently we’ve all been fawning over a Glaswegian studio called Risotto for their super-fun risograph posters, prints and flyers. To be honest, I never thought we’d find an equivalent over the Atlantic in Montreal. Last week, one of our go-to French guys over in Paris, Raphael Garnier, got in touch to tell us about Charmant & Courtois, a French-Canadian design studio with a penchant for printing and some very good parties to go to.

The guys behind these rather wonderful pieces of print are Alex Blouin, Alexis Coutu-Marion, Mathieu Dionne, Slvain Martet, Florian Petigny and Jules Renaud – held together by founding member – and an illustrator I keep safely tucked away in my own personal favourites folder – Gabrielle Lamontagne, who started Charmant & Courtois back in 2009. From the looks of how many party invitations, flyers, and record label catalogues they’ve made, I bet they’re a pretty cool bunch. If you see any of this printed matter flapping around in the breeze in Montreal, please be sure to grab one for me.

Two green square posters with bold, red-outlined white lettering. One reads “Morning Fever”, while the other reads “Soul Disco House” and lists the date “Saturday August 24th” and the venue “Playhouse 5656 Avenue du Parc”. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

Orange cursive text reads “Morning Fever” against a solid green background. The letters are outlined in white. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

A bold typographic poster on a green background reads “SOUL DISCO HOUSE” in orange, bubbly lettering. Text around the edges lists the date as “SATURDAY AUGUST 24th”, the time as “10pm – 3am”, and the location as “PLAYHOUSE 5656 AVENUE DU PARC”. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

A red and white graphic design featuring the words “HEAVY TRIP” in bold, white hand-drawn lettering. The text is set against red blocks over a white background filled with a grid of small red symbols, including hearts, stars and faces. — Above
Florian Petigny: Promo catalogue for booking agency Heavy Trip

An open magazine spread featuring the band Sonic Avenues. The left page shows a purple headline and a red-tinted photo of four people, while the right page displays a red poster with the band's name and French text. — Above
Florian Petigny: Promo catalogue for booking agency Heavy Trip

A poster for an event titled “CHOCOLAT” in large, green vertical lettering. It features a painting of a yellow field and a dark fence, with the text “TSS TSS” below. Further text reads “LANCEMENT À LA VITROLA LE 23 OCTOBRE 2014 À 8 PM AVEC DJ ANNIE Q ET DJ SPÉCIAL SPATIAL BILLLETS 15$”. A grainy image of a moon and several small logos appear at the bottom. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Poster for the album launch of Chocolat

A red and white illustration of a wide-eyed figure with a long beard, surrounded by stars. A red banner in the top left reads “HEAVY TRIP”. A blue block at the bottom reads “Heavy Trip fête son 1er anniversaire!” followed by a line-up including “Alaclair Ensemble”, “Duchess Says”, “Chocolat” and “Solids”. Event details list the date as 4 décembre 2014 at Piccolo Rialto, Montréal. — Above
Florian Petigny: Poster for Heavy Trip’s first anniversary party

A colourful poster for a “Prime Mate Launch Party!” on “Thursday November 13th”. A green bottle at the bottom erupts with pink bubble lettering and green circles. The event runs from “6pm” to “3am” and is “Free”. Text at the bottom reads “Nomad Nation 129 Van Horne” and describes the drink as a yerba mate soda. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer promoting a soda launch party

Two square posters set against a black background. One is blue with white typography that reads “MORNING FEVER”. The other is white with 3D blue and pink lettering that reads “Mc Boing Boing”, with the date “SATURDAY OCTOBER 18” and “LOCATION TBA”. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

A blue and white typographic poster reads “Mc Boing Boing”. The 3D letters have a stippled texture and are stacked vertically. Text at the top reads “Saturday October 18” and the bottom reads “Location TBA”. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

A typographic poster with bold, 3D block lettering in blue and purple that reads “Mc Boing Boing”. Text at the top reads “Saturday October 18” and the bottom reads “Location TBA”. — Above
Mathieu Dionne: Flyer for Morning Fever dance party

A collage of colourful, abstract shapes and figures on two white pages. The left page features a red torso, a blue leg, and a series of jagged, multi-coloured lines. The right page shows a yellow and black checkered sphere, a rainbow-coloured hand, and various organic forms. — Above
Alexis Coutu-Marion, Mathieu Dionne and Florian Petigny: Submission for Little Burgundy Magazine Construction Issue

A graphic poster in blue and red ink on a white background. Bold text reads “Bloc Parte” and “23 Juin”, with a blue abstract shape in the centre and the phrase “Fuck yall on ne vous doit rien !!” at the bottom. — Above
Florian Petigny: Flyer

An abstract composition of bold, overlapping shapes in blue, yellow, red and green. A white circle sits at the centre, surrounded by halftone dots and diagonal line patterns. — Above
Alex Blouin: Artwork of Babylone’s new album

A graphic design spread featuring bold, overlapping organic shapes in blue, red, yellow and green. A list of titles in French, including “Démissionnaire” and “Badboy”, is printed on the left side. — Above
Alex Blouin: Artwork of Babylone’s new album

An illustration of a person in a brown uniform and white chef’s hat holding a tray. On the tray sits a blue pigeon and a yellow drink with a straw. Behind them is a green brick wall and a framed picture of an ice cream cone. — Above
Alexis Coutu-Marion: Illustrations commissionned by the Fader Magazine for an article on the first jobs musicians had before they played music for a living.

An illustration of a person in a white jumpsuit painting a jagged blue line across a red brick wall. A dark cat sits atop a yellow stepladder, while a pink cat walks along the ground below. — Above
Alexis Coutu-Marion: Illustrations commissionned by the Fader Magazine for an article on the first jobs musicians had before they played music for a living.

Further Info

www.charmantetcourtois.com

About the Author

Liv Siddall

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Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

Check out hyper cool French Canadian design collective, Charmant & Courtois

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