The new visual identity for the Cité de l’Économie was unveiled by the Banque de France Governor at a press conference on 22 September 2015.
It is inspired by data visualisation techniques, which are increasingly being used in the media to present economic data in a clear and eye-catching way. A major change is the shortening of the name to Citéco, making it easier to remember and more accessible to the general public, while emphasising the project’s educational role. The full name – Cité de l’Économie et de la Monnaie – still appears across the bottom of the logo. The ‘é’ in Citéco has been made into a pictogram or icon, representing both the human aspects and the global reach of Citéco: the round shape, symbolising inclusiveness, underlines the relevance of economics to everyday human life; the globe, meanwhile, refers to the network of economic transactions that take place across the planet.
The main colour for the logo, orange, was chosen to give a warm and dynamic feel to the world of economics. Orange combines the strength and energy of red with the cheerful atmosphere of yellow.
The main message for the new Citéco information campaign is that with the appropriate resources – especially those available via Citéco – anyone can get a taste for economics, and even start to find it fun. The visuals also stress that a sense of humour – as shown by the playful takes on the traditional graphic codes found in economics (graphs, histograms, diagrams, etc.) – can be a useful tool for learning.
The new visual identity thus conveys the basic values of the Citéco project: modernity, proximity, accessibility, simplicity, education and citizenship.
It was designed and developed in collaboration with the agency Graphéine (Paris, Lyon), and will gradually be rolled out across all the Cité’s educational and communication tools.
Published on 16 August 2022. Updated on 21 February 2017