Pierre Katz is interviewed by beauty Packaging about the process of creating a fragrance logo. He discusses the cases of his creations for the first fragrance of the creator, Alaïa, and Hermes Day.

The name of a fragrance is rich in meaning. It bears the values of the brand and embodies an archetype or a clean inspiration: a certain type of woman, man, a sensation or an abstract idea. To illustrate this richness of values and ideas by typography alone is the challenge of typographer. The signs anoblissent the marks and give them character, they embody them in a singular style that reflects theirs. The logo of a brand or perfume is its symbolic face.

 

(…) I think the name Alaïa is in itself a very graphic name and its logo makes it justice, but I thought that as a name of a woman's perfume and an incarnation of the woman Alaïa, it would be more highlighted by winning in height. So I slightly lengthened the letters to make the name more majestic and slender. I redesigned the word ' Paris ' which was almost half the height of Alaïa, the name of the sewing house, which gave it too much importance. I reduced it and I chose another font more transparent and readable in small sizes. (…) The result is a slight change that gives the logo an extra touch of femininity and grace, without disfiguring one of the most emblematic names in the fashion world. As the saying goes: if it is not broken, do not fix it!

 

I also conceived the day name of Hermes, the last feminine fragrance of Hermes, and the absolute and gardenia variations. This project involved different challenges because it was a complete creation that had to express what a "Hermes day" would look like. (…) Since the name is an ode to daylight, it had to be very bright, delicate and optimistic. I was inspired to create a sophisticated character in an inclined version (rather than an italic) in order to give it momentum, an energy. I wanted to give the name a bold lettering to make it breathe and increase its brightness. The great J also creates a break-it is the beginning from which the rest of the name takes place, as the beginning of a new story or a new day. In fact I treated Hermes Day in a literary way, as if it were the title of an epic novel. This is the least we can do for a great feminine fragrance of the Hermes House.

 

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