The world famous Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris is celebrating 120 years of revues. To mark the anniversary it has unveiled a new modern identity including a revamped image of the famous red windmill. The redesign is by the John Brightman Agency based in Paris. The design brief was to rethink the identity of the Moulin Rouge as a global brand to encompass franchises, brand licensing and of course the show itself.
The new corporate logo features the red windmill with “Moulin Rouge” in a stylized font in the shape of a windmill sail. The word Paris fits between the serifs on the capital letter E.
The Moulin Rouge Corporate Logo
The new licensing logo criss-crosses the words Moulin Rouge to form a windmill shape, using the same stylized font in silver grey on a dark red background.
The Moulin Rouge Licensing Logo
The logo was designed, unusually, by three designers working for the Brightman agency.
Pauline Nicholas, one of the art directors working on the project said “the aim was really to revamp the windmill, to make it more feminine and glamorous! That’s why we thought of producing it in different shades of red, large and vibrant.” Stephane Gautier, creative director said “The difficulty lay in designing a logo worthy of an institution so well known worldwide”.
The newly unveiled logo is just one part of a new era in the Moulin Rouge’s global communication strategy. There will be new Moulin Rouge visuals to look forward to, as well as new creative publicity material and campaigns.
John Brightman’s website has an interview with the creative team behind the new identity.
Outside the Moulin Rouge, Paris
Personally I love the new logo, in particular the corporate one. It holds onto the Bohemian flavor of the Moulin Rouge which has such an interesting history, while keeping it simple and charming.
But more importantly, what do you think of the new logo?
Jennifer FarleyJennifer Farley is a designer, illustrator and design instructor based in Ireland. She writes about design and illustration on her blog at Laughing Lion Design.
