Bureau Borsche goes bananas for fruity dad jokes in new identity for LemonLand Media Lab

Drawing from the dad-joke bank, Bureau Borsche has taken an unexpected turn in its creation of a corporate identity for LemonLand Media Lab. The new independent publishing and media company will see illustrated business cards with fruit-related puns that could leave a sour taste in the mouth.

Founded in 2007 by Mirko Borsche, the versatile graphic design studio has worked with a variety of clients. Titles include the multi-award-winning Zeit Magazin, where, to quote Monocle, Mirko’s creative direction “set the mark for mainstream newsstand design”. Earlier this year Bureau Borsche created a new identity for luggage designers, Rimowa, one showcasing a perfect combination of “form and function”. The Bureau’s “creative output runs the gamut”, and in their recent project with Luxembourg-based LemonLand Media Lab, we see the studio run in a berry different direction.

This recent project sees them go bananas for fruit-puns. “The identity was based around the creation of a LemonLand character made up from the two ‘Ls’ in the name”, the studio writes, this “approach then became the defining characteristic of the identity”. The two “Ls” form legs that protrude out from beneath a bright yellow lemon, which is then illustrated onto a variety of business cards, letterheads and compliment cards in a series of “playful” scenes that have left us s-peach-less. Illustrations include a pear wearing a luminous red bra, with the lemon stating “nice pear”. In one illustration the lemon asks “lettuce be friends”, to which the lettuce responds “Nah”.

To “feed directly into the comical nature of the concept”, Bureau Borsche has pruned-back the style, featuring large, minimal type across the branding; we observe this in the presentation template, which features the company goals. One slide features “Collaboration” in bold, black type, the “Ls” positioned like walking legs. Below, the lemon walks towards a dog, and between them lies a turd. An illustration that really is the cherry on the top of the cake.