Website and identity for the Belgian Pavilion in Venice

Services

Brand design
Web design
Print design

Catapult has developed a comprehensive identity system for the Belgian Pavilion in Venice. Since 1972, the Flemish and French Communities have participated alternately in the Venice Biennale, for both the architecture and art biennale.

The Catapult team was asked to completely revise the website of the Belgian Pavilion, extend it with an archive of all art and architecture exhibitions and provide a new section for the Young Curators Programme. In addition, Catapult has designed a range of printed supporting materials that convey the new look & feel of the rebrand.

www.belgianpavilion.be

Feuilleton, Angel Vergara, 2011, Belgian Pavilion at the 54th International Art Exhibition Biennale di Venezia (© Thierry Geoffroy)

Expansion of corporate identity and website

The Flemish government took the initiative in 2013 and asked Catapult to develop a house style and website for the Belgian Pavilion.

In 2022, Catapult was commissioned to completely revise and redesign the website of the Belgian Pavilion and develop a new house style for the Young Curators Programme. The wish was that the Young Curators Programme would feel like part of the Belgian Pavilion with its own visually recognizable identity.

The Young Curators Programme is a fellowship programme that aims to offer opportunities to emerging Belgian-based curators working in the context of Flanders and the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. The Fellows are given a mandate of approximately two months in Venice. They are expected to conduct research and gain experience by actively participating in the life of the Belgian Pavilion at the International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia.

Logo design

The Belgian Pavilion typographic logo is combined with two contemporary typefaces — Adelle and Avenir — to form the primary representation of the brand. The abbreviation of Belgium ‘BEL’ is in slight contrast with the rest of the word image Belgian pavilion. ‘BEL’ is put in Adelle, the rest in Avenir.

The letters of the Young Curators Program logo are alternated in Adelle and Adelle sans. These serif and sans sherif letters give a dynamic image and represent the fellows who are being trained as duos.

“The Young Curators Programme logo is supported with stationary or moving colour gradients in yellow and red, creating a dynamic identity.”

“Catapult intuitively senses where we want to go. They empathise with content and are very flexible, also with regard to the processing of content that is supplied by different partners in different ways. The website was revised for the 2022 Biennale, but was able to fall back on a 2013 design that is still up-to-date, ideal for a government website.”

Stan Van Pelt, Department of Culture, Youth and Media