2023
2023
The Nantes metropolitan area is centralizing all its transport services (previously offered by Tan, Effia, Nge parkings and Bicloo) under a single name: Naolib. This ambitious project, fruit of several years of consultation, aims to simplify travel thanks to a multimodal offer. Mobility is now imagined collectively, simpler, smoother and more agile.
Derived from naoned - "Nantais" in Breton - and "liberty", the name Naolib stands for simplified, virtuous mobility at the service of the citizens. This name was the starting point for our creative thinking. We were commissioned to create a visual concept around the notion of flowing mobility: the idea of moving from one form of transport to another, simply and agilely.
Naolib is imbued with the identity of the Nantes metropolis (citizen, green and creative) to inform and guide citizens in their travels. Its identity is expressed in the plural, through the diversity of travel modes and the users who use them. Naolib is thus imagined as a brand that is creative, committed, bold, accessible and territorial.
For several months, we navigated between creative and strategic challenges.
Here's the project's travel diary!
The Graphéine team takes you behind the scenes of the Naolib project.
Decoding, analysis and anecdotes for your ears.
The logotype follows a flowing trajectory, revealing the handwritten letters n_aolib_ one by one. Its hand-drawn outline evokes a human gesture, combining roundness and bounce.
The affective sign evokes a simple, accessible route. Like a guide for the people of Nantes, the line and the dot symbolize the simplified journey from point A to point B. Speed is no longer the goal: mobility becomes smoother, easier.
In short, with "now-lib", freedom is here and now!
The colorimetric universe is inspired by the personality of the city of Nantes: green and creative. Choices are based on what already exists, to ensure a certain visual ecology in public spaces. These include the green of the Green Line, or the "Metropolitan green" found on Nantes street furniture. While green underlines the ecological ambition of the project, a palette of secondary colors allows for a more targeted expression according to the mode of transport or the subject addressed.
In order to convey an identifiable message in line with the project's signage needs, a bespoke typography was created. Naotypo draws on the roundness of the logotype to create a playful, accessible brand tone. Designed to become a genuine graphic tool, it integrates a large number of identity elements, accessible via keyboard shortcuts: logotypes, signs, line numbers...
Very quickly, the Naolib universe unfolded with its own brand tone: short, expressive messages, an obvious closeness to its audience, puns to make people smile... We provided the brand with an editorial charter to simplify the writing of future content and inspire the communications teams.
For a mobility brand, the pictogram library is an essential element. The challenge (which turned out to be more complicated than you might think) was to bring the Naolib universe to life, while complying with accessibility regulations.
Naolib's visual and iconographic universe combines two graphic tools to express its vision of flowing mobility:
It's by combining these two elements that the magic of the system works. It's up to you to design mobility the way you want it!
As the project was originally conceived on paper, we had to transcribe this human gesture, this felt-tip material, onto digital creation media. Thanks to the creation of an Illustrator "brush" (retranscribing the technical roughness of a hand drawing), we created an illustrative toolbox comprising around a hundred fundamental elements: modes of transport, vegetation, contextual elements, characters... For more specific needs, the toolbox is designed to be modular, so that elements can be interchanged or a new illustration can be easily created.
Once the identity had been finalized, we helped the city and its partners with the signage. While these materials are often constrained by regulatory codes, the positive personality of the brand had to be kept in mind.
To mark the brand's unveiling to the general public, a video clip was produced to explain the background to its creation, its challenges and its values.
Motion design : Sébastien Vincent
Thanks to Sara Burgaud, Olivier Leprévost, Xavier Crouan and all the teams at Nantes Métropole, NGE, TAN, Effia and JCDecaux, for their confidence and creativity.
Thanks to the agencies and partners with whom we had the pleasure of collaborating: Sébastien Vincent (motion design), Agence Jujotte (website), Agence Antigel (communication campaign), Agence Copenhagenize (bicycle network), Emmanuelle Valli (Wording).