Overview: FrancoFest is a book festival celebrating French-language literature and writing, held annually in Armenia. Founded by the prominent publishing house Newmag, FrancoFest aims to gather 5000 people each year to participate in a celebration of books and reading. The festival features concerts, panel discussions, debates, art performances, book readings, and more. It is an open-air celebration of books and everything that comes with it, all under the banner of the French language.

The Challenge: The main challenge was to create a solid brand that could be utilized on a yearly basis. The goal was to celebrate French-language books without resorting to clichés and stereotypes about French culture and the associations it typically brings.

The Solution: Based on market assessment and a value extraction session conducted with Newmag team, the Explorer archetype was selected for the brand. Drawing inspiration from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” the idea was to portray an explorer at the book festival, walking through the park and diving deep into the world of words. For visual inspiration, Tim Burton’s version of “Alice in Wonderland” served as a reference point for the logotype architecture, colors, and patterns for the brand.

The Reception: Despite the rainy weather throughout the festival, attendees enjoyed the event, giving kudos to Newmag’s team. The media coverage and social media tags were enormous, highlighting the success and positive reception of FrancoFest.