Alice Gras and Anaïs Seguin had spent their twenties building something vibrant.
Their creative practice carried the open-hearted, hustling energy of young designers finding their voice, expressed through a colourful, pop aesthetic that made perfect sense for that chapter. But a decade in, with families started, projects becoming more intentional, and their home evolving into a reflection of their creative world, that former identity began to feel misaligned. The visual language hadn’t kept pace with where they were heading. When the Paris-based duo approached Odds Studio for a complete rebrand, the brief extended beyond refreshing graphics. They needed a new name, identity, packaging, stationery and merchandise system that could hold their evolution without alienating the community they’d carefully cultivated. “We basically helped strengthen their image, made it feel more grounded and lasting, without losing what people already loved about them,” explain Co-founders & Art Directors Djelissa Latini and Amélie Warnault.
The naming process began with a deliberate shift in language. Their previous English name no longer felt right for a practice so deeply rooted in French aesthetic traditions. Their work draws from the colours and textures of Monet’s house in Giverny, the floral motifs of Art Nouveau, and a broader art de vivre sensibility spanning furniture design to home accessories. A French name would anchor the brand more firmly in this heritage. Early explorations circled poetic words expressing joy or contemplation – names like Odelle or Musanelle that carried literary weight. These felt too abstract, lacking the warmth and embodied quality the duo needed. The direction shifted toward something resembling a family name, carrying lineage and quiet elegance without excessive seriousness. Delajoie emerged naturally from this thinking. Literally translating as ‘some joy,’ it possesses the weight of an heirloom surname whilst maintaining lightness and subtle humour.
Odds Studio anchored the visual language in mid-century French graphic design, specifically the period spanning the 1940s to 1960s. The studio collects material from this era – old business cards, shop signs, book covers – drawn to the way typography from that period balances elegance with straightforwardness. “There’s something about that era’s typography that feels both elegant and straightforward, those hand-drawn scripts paired with simple serif typefaces. Everything from that period carried a sense of craft, time and tradition,” the designers note.
The challenge lay in capturing this spirit without falling into pastiche. Attempting to construct a faux century-old heritage for a contemporary practice risks feeling clumsy. The identity needed to function as dialogue between past and present rather than reproduction. The monogram demonstrates this calibration clearly. Its lines are clean and digitally drawn, deliberately avoiding the ornamental curves that would tip the balance too far toward vintage reproduction. “We could have added more curves or ornamentation, but that would’ve tipped the balance,” Latini and Warnault share. “We wanted to honour that heritage feeling without overdoing it.”
The monogram itself functions as a blason – a coat of arms granting the brand symbolic weight. The design process began with a cursive ‘D,’ exploring how it could be mirrored and multiplied into pattern. Drawing from swirly ornamental and floral motifs found in old bookplates and embroidered monograms, the letters combine to form a shape that subtly recalls a tulip or lily of the valley. The result carries delicacy, grace and movement without stiffness, serving as a signature element across packaging, textiles, collectible pieces and stationery.
The typographic system layers three distinct voices. Rexton Light and Right Slab from Pangram Pangram provide structure and craftsmanship, bringing quiet confidence and understated heritage feel. A round hand calligraphy adds softer, human touch with calligraphic rhythm that connects to hand-drawn historical references whilst remaining contemporary. “Together they strike the balance we were after: refined and timeless, but with a playful edge that keeps the brand feeling fresh and alive,” the designers explain.
Colour operates with similar intentionality, evoking the sensation of discovering a box of old ribbons or matchbooks at a flea market. The palette mixes muted and lively tones – emerald green with considerable depth, dusty blue carrying vintage character, punctuated by rose, yellow and bright orange that inject warmth and unexpected energy. The slight imperfection in these combinations creates human, real feeling rather than polished perfection.
Gras and Seguin create household textiles reminiscent of items found in traditional French quincailleries – hardware stores where care for the home was elevated to quiet ritual. This old-timey quality threads through the entire identity, sparking nostalgia for a period and its memorabilia without tipping into sentimentality. The brand extends into a complete lifestyle world, with the monogram enabling expansion into merchandise and collectible pieces that feel coherent rather than forced.
The system’s flexibility stems from foundational thinking. Odds Studio approached the work as universe rather than logo from initial explorations, designing everything – typography, monogram, colour palette – to adapt naturally across diverse materials and scales. This organic coherence required no forcing; it emerged from clear conceptual grounding that could evolve across applications.
The duo's philosophy centres on timeless furniture and objects designed to accompany owners for decades. Ten years ago, they created their first table for a 40-square-metre Paris flat, a piece that has followed them through subsequent homes as proof of its endurance. Their production approach prioritises French manufacturers and workshops of excellence, cultivating know-how through thoughtful methods that honour both material and human sustainability. Each designed object carries hours of dialogue, shared reflection, and the dedication of craftspeople who carefully shaped it.
Odds Studio has achieved evolution that feels organic. The community that had grown with Gras and Seguin has recognised the new branding as natural progression rather than reinvention, a visual language finally matching the maturity and intention the duo had developed over a decade of practice. The identity holds heritage and modernity in productive tension, looking toward the future whilst maintaining connection to traditions of French craft. Through deliberate restraint, carefully calibrated references and flexible systems, the work demonstrates how brands can mature without losing the qualities that made them resonant in the first place.
All images © of their respective owners.
Content taken from Odds Studio
