Charlier is a Belgian food brand whose original symbol was designed by graphic designer Paul Ibou in 1965. Ibou, the pseudonym of Paul Vermeersch (1939-2023), was a prolific Belgian logo designer credited with creating roughly 350 logos over a career spanning more than 60 years, including marks for Cécémel, Antwerp-Tax, Tele-Onthaal and the Belgian federal police.[1]
Design and History
The Charlier mark dates to 1965, when Paul Ibou designed the original symbol for the brand.[2] The brand operates within the food sector in Belgium.[2] The Charlier name is connected to the Charlier-Brabo Group (CBG), a family-owned food company founded in 1945 by Georges Charlier and based in Aartselaar, Belgium.[3]
Ibou began working as an independent designer in 1961 and received his first major commissions a few years later.[4] The 1965 Charlier logo was created during this early period of his independent practice, alongside other notable commissions such as the logo for the Middelheim Sculpture Biennial in Antwerp, also from 1965.[4]
Ibou’s broader body of work is well documented. He designed the former logo of the province of Antwerp (1983-2014), featuring fifteen triangles that together formed both the letters P and A, as well as marks for the Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen (UIA) before it merged into the University of Antwerp in 2003.[1] His logo archive was acquired by Design Museum Gent.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The mark is described as having a rectangular, angular construction with a three-dimensional quality.[2] No official source provides a detailed account of the intended meaning behind the specific shapes or colors used in the Charlier symbol.
For context, Ibou’s personal approach to logo design often involved geometric abstraction. At age 17 in 1958, he created his own personal logo and pseudonym, Paul Ibou, based on a stylized owl derived from a few graphic forms, referencing the French word for owl, “hibou.”[6] This demonstrates his tendency toward simplified, form-driven mark-making, though it does not confirm specific intent for the Charlier design itself.
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