êkhô is a graphic design and art direction studio. Most of our project are in Marseille (FR), Geneva (CH) and Barcelona (ES)

2022(FR)

Zone Mixte


Poster design | News Paper

The "Zone Mixte" is the space where photographers and accredited media meet during major sporting events. A key place to build stories around major competitions and capture landmark images. An area where female photographers are underrepresented.

With only 12% of women photographers accredited* at the Tokyo Olympic Games (2020), Analog Sport and the Consulat Voltaire collaborated for the realization of the collective exhibition ZONE MIXTE.
Mark

Artists exhibited: Agathe Breton, Djara Cissoko, Karthoum Dembele, Anouck Everaere, Salomé Guilloret, Najwa Hakiri, Noémie Mimpfoundi-Picot, Sarah Makharine, Magali Paulin, Anne-Sophie Soudoplatoff, Pauline Thollet

"Women represented only 12% of accredited photographers at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Despite over 65% of women graduating from photography schools in France for more than a decade, and despite a context marked by persistent inequalities in the photography profession, the place of women sports photographers remains concerning. With the approach of the 2024 Paris Games, the association Analog Sport and Le Consulat Voltaire join forces to advocate for equality, support a new generation of photographers, and offer fresh perspectives on sports."



The exhibition Zone Mixte, le sport dans l’objectif de photographes femmes, features the work of 11 women with a professional approach to photography. It took place at Le Consulat Voltaire in Paris, and we were commissioned to create both the event poster and the exhibition catalogue.

We created a poster using graphic lines inspired by various sports fields and equipment, creating imaginary playing fields as if viewed from an aerial perspective. The lines extending beyond the frame suggest that we are only seeing a part of them.



The bright and vibrant background is a reference to the lighting spots found on sports fields, as well as the bright flashes of camera equipment. These lights interweave within the letters of the title "Zone Mixte" to both reveal and conceale it, symbolizing a yet-to-be-achieved diversity.



We used two fonts for the project, 'AUTHENTIC Sans' by Christina Janus and Desmond Wong and 'BBB Baskervvol' from Bye Bye Binary, a reinterpretation of the Baskerville typeface, which serves a perfect exemple of the erasure of women in typography. Sarah Eaves, Baskerville's partner and associate, who continued the business after his death, was never credited for her significant contributions to typeface and print design.



We designed an exhibition catalog that showcases the artists and the photos featured during the exhibition. The concept behind this catalog was to make it free and easily distributable. The format and printing technique take inspiration from sports newspaper.

We played with different elements from the poster, where the unfolded cover essentially serves as the poster itself. In the exhibition catalog, we crafted multiple compositions incorporating these elements into the design.



We have extended the identity across various formats for social media and press. Following the exhibition's opening, several events took place, including a compelling talk titled "Women in Photography: Breaking Barriers in Sports Photography." This event was presented in collaboration with Gaze Magazine and featured four sports photographers, namely Agathe Breton, Djara Cissoko, Karthoum Dembele, and Sarah Makharine.




Exhibition setup. Photo credit: Anne Bourrassé