The famous mascot of the Angoulême International Comic Festival is no longer on the logo of the 49th edition. A decision supposed to highlight Angoulême, like a brand. Franck Bondoux, the director of 9th Art +, the organizing company of the festival, reassures: “We do not abandon the beast!”
It is the mascot of the Angoulême International Comics Festival. The beast by designer Lewis Trondheim has been associated with the festival since 2007 and its creation. However, when the 49th edition was announced to be held in January 2022, it disappeared from the logo of the festival. A choice that went unnoticed at the beginning until the elected opposition leader, Frédérique Cauvin-Doumic questioned this absence from the Angoulême City Council, September 22.
On Facebook, the Angoulême International Comic Festival is announcing its 49th edition and at the same time unveiling its new logo. Under the post, a lot of excitement about this announcement, but not only. We can read there: “New Identity [visuelle] ? The beast remains, I hope!“
Cannes as an example
This mascot, the public is visibly attached to it. Franck Bondoux, the director of the 9th Art +, organizer of the festival, is well aware of this. “We do not abandon the beast, he explains to The Charente Libre. The more elements there are in a logo, the less readable it is. The Fauve weakened its strength, but it remains the mascot of the festival. It was his first job when he was created. “ The director of the 9th Art + wants to reassure and indicates that if the beast will be less visible in the official communication, it will be “more put to good use.“
The idea is to purify the logo in order to highlight Angoulême, a way of making the name of the city a brand. A strategy inspired by the Cannes festival that Franck Bondoux cites as an example: “We no longer say Cannes International Film Festival, we just say Cannes. We want it to be the same with Angoulême and to always be used in a comic book context.“
A strategy that inevitably appeals to the municipality. A little less with the association of the festival, always according to La Charente Libre. “The idea of changing the logo is commendable at the dawn of the festival’s 50th anniversary. But in my opinion, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the universe it is meant to represent. I would like it to remain the International Comic Strip Festival“, confides Delphine Groux, president of the association of the International Comics Festival of Angoulême. The visual identity of the festival is in full change and many elements remain to be determined. In the meantime, the golden fauves will still reward in 2022 the winners of the Comic Strip Festival.
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