Avant Post’s latest portfolio update makes us wish summer was back

Given the founders of graphic design studio Avant Post met while studying in the south of France, it’s perhaps unsurprising that their work has quite a beachy vibe. The trio’s most recent site update is awash with shots of their latest project work amid sand and palm trees, plus there’s Wham-worthy tropical colour palettes a-plenty.

“We are always surprised how many people around us think we have a distinctive style,” says creative director Johan Mossé, who founded the studio with Quentin Berthelot and Adrien Weibel in 2014. “We honestly don’t think that we do, but we love to use typography as a very important ingredient in our creations. We also have this deeply rooted conviction that a good idea needs some space to be highlighted. It often leads us to create pure, minimalist compositions, paying very strong attention to details and layout.”

It’s a principle that’s visible in its identity work for theatre Les Salins’ 2017/2018 season, which is enthusiastically brimming with a seaside palette of sand yellow and ocean blue. Balanced against the bold type is a raft of symbols – the sun, sand and bluster of the Mistral wind references its geographic location and the curtain, ladder and script sheets nods to the landscape inside the theatre.

Avant Post has worked on several other projects in the cultural sphere this year, including record sleeves for bands Mogaami and Un Groupe Français (for which they’ve also made a video with director Samuel Guiges) and a snappy identity for Marseille music festival L’Édition. The event takes places in unexpected venues across the city so Avant Post developed an interlocking logo that references the idea of a route with many turns and places to visit. “It restyles the graphic shapes of the ‘É’ of L’Édition and puts the emphasis on the mobile aspect of the festival,” says Johan. “The road we drew had no real beginning point nor ending point, as a reference to a musical loop.”