Groupe CCC add a graphic design edge to Novembre Magazine

Over the years of commissioning exciting and experimental photography, Novembre Magazine has gained a reputation as one of the most glorious image-focused publications around. Through imagery, the magazine zooms in and interprets “art practice, fashion, beauty and innovation”. But, in its work to champion photographers, it’s now seen as more a representation of various photographer’s porfolio and artistic contributions. To widen its remit and publication fanatics view of it, Novembre decided to give Paris-based studio Groupe CCC a call with the idea of “bringing back the idea of graphic design,” the studio tells It’s Nice That.

Groupe CCC, founded by Valentin Bigel and Alice Gavin in 2010, is now a group of designers, but a studio they consider more a meeting of friends and collaborators. With similar interests to Novembre such as “Art, fashion and forms of innovation,” the publication’s decision to call upon the French designers is apt.

Working across art direction, design, layout and font designs for Novembre’s 13th issue, contributors still remain at the core of the magazine’s existence. Groupe CCC has interpreted this graphically, designing a personal logo for not just one but all 75 creatives featured in the magazine. Specially designed fonts have also been created for special credited guests which feature in the magazine. Released as the publication’s spring summer issue, the studio also built collaged flowers which act as little nuggets throughout the issue made out of zoomed and cropped elements of the aforementioned fonts designed. “The whole idea was to create images using fonts as much as pictures,” Groupe CCC explains. Ethan Assouline also then interpreted Groupe CCC’s graphic elements into an interpretive promotional film too.

The studio also decided to not change the core graphic design elements of previous issues, but instead add its own design elements to the structure already in place of using “no grids, creating a layout on the edge” creating intentional chaos, “as well as a beautiful balance”.

To visualise the graphic design addition to the publication on its cover, the studio have created a sleeve, “a shiny transparent plastic over cover which allows the reader to get rid of branding” too. Additionally, the studio created a special limited edition cover featuring a font-based visual, “the first time Novembre Magazine went for a font cover!”