SNCF, France’s state-owned railway company, has partnered with creative agency Rosa Paris on creating a new identity as part of a brand campaign for its subsidiary SNCF Voyageurs. Established in 2020, this branch of the company supports five million passengers who use the railways to get around France every day.

However, despite its huge customer base, SNCF Voyageurs has, up until now, been largely indistinguishable from its parent brand, due in no small part to its lack of visual distinction.

Tasked with changing this, the team at Rosa Paris has dug deep into the company’s customer demographic to create an identity that not only separates the two brands, but also speaks to the people that interact with SNCF Voyageurs every day – whether they realise it or not.

Using data gathered through Converged, an AI-powered marketing engagement platform, Rosa Paris developed a series of logos based on the interests and identities of the country’s train travellers.

There are 25 new logos in total, and each represents a different type of traveller, from the “traveller who likes to read and the traveller who misses the 2000s” to “the one for whom figures and spreadsheets hold no secrets”, as well as “the dreamer, the snack-loving traveller, and many others”, according to the agency.

Keen to target these various personas, Rosa Paris enlisted the help of numerous artists to create the set of logos. Graphic designers, illustrators, 3D artists and embroiderers came together to compose the extensive series, each bringing their respective styles to bear on the project. This varied approach is becoming popular, having also guided the V&A’s brand campaign last year.

The result is a collection of logos that spans a wide range of mediums and aesthetics, from striking illustrations and bold 3D renders to playful typography and cinematic photography. The suggestion is that there is something for everyone.

Speaking on the process, Jean-François Sacco, ECD and co-founder of Rosa Paris, says establishing these different styles was the hardest aspect of the project: “We had to find the right balance between each logo: those whose heads are already on vacation, those who pack their sports gear, those who listen to heavy metal or K Pop, those who dream, those who read travel books, those who go to music festivals … and thus achieve colourful, shimmering, inspiring and above all popular and contemporary universes.”

Sacco credits not only the artists who brought each profile to life, but also the inspiration for the creations. “What we loved most was the way it turned data into inspiring, creative logos,” says Sacco. “That’s the beauty of this campaign. It’s thanks to the ‘human talent’ of 25 illustrators that we were able to create and produce this campaign. In short, the exact opposite of AI.”

Credits:
Agency: Rosa Paris
ECDs: Gilles Fichteberg, Jean-François Sacco
Creative Director: Julien Saurin
Creatives: Claire Croteau, Diane Desclaux
Artists: Studio Jimbo, Morgane Vantorre, Clément Cases, Thomas Jouffrit, Ginevra Grigolo, Killian Maguet, Hust Wilson, Eliott Grunewald, Axel Durand, Arthur Seguin, Chloé Grienenberger, Studio Horah, Hugo Lucas