C.G.S.O. is the Dutch acronym for Centrum voor Geboorteregeling en Seksuele Opvoeding (Centre for Birth Control and Sexual Education), a Belgian organisation active in sexual health education and counselling. The organisation has been operating for more than 50 years and works with a small team of professionals and volunteers, offering training and support in schools and social organisations.[1]
Design and History
The visual identity for C.G.S.O. was created by Belgian graphic designer Paul Ibou (1939-2023), who designed posters for the organisation in 1969.[2] Ibou, born Paul Vermeersch, began working as an independent designer in the early 1960s and became a pioneer in developing clear visual identities for companies and organisations in Belgium.[3]
Ibou designed more than 350 logos over the course of his career, including marks for the Province of Antwerp, the Belgian Tiercé and the Royal Ballet of Flanders.[3] His work for C.G.S.O. is documented in the collection of the Letterenhuis in Antwerp, which holds posters he designed for the organisation dated 1969.[2]
Ibou was known for presenting his logo designs to clients as three-dimensional objects, often in plexiglass on a small base, as a way to convince them of his proposals. This collection of logo-objects, which he called his “logotheek,” was acquired by Design Museum Gent in 2019.[3]
Meaning and Symbolism
Documented descriptions of the C.G.S.O. mark itself are limited. The organisation’s full name, Centrum voor Geboorteregeling en Seksuele Opvoeding, is the source of the acronym that forms the basis of the identity.[1] The Letterenhuis catalogue identifies the work as posters for “CGSO / Centra Gezinsplanning en Seksuele Opvoeding” but does not provide a detailed visual description of the mark.[2]
Ibou’s broader design approach was geometric and reductive. He created logos in a “reductive hard-edge style” for dozens of national and international companies and organisations.[4] However, no source provides a specific account of the symbolism or intended meaning behind the C.G.S.O. mark itself.
Typography and Design
No documentation has been found that specifies the typography, colour palette or construction method used in the C.G.S.O. identity. The available evidence confirms only that Paul Ibou created posters for the organisation in 1969 and that the work is preserved in the Letterenhuis collection.[2]
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