The Carré Union corporate brochure

Case study

The marketing case

To promote its new positioning as Montreal’s true design center, the Carré Union hired us to design a promotional piece meant to reach designers and architects. Competing for the attention of such a demanding audience was no easy task, requiring us to tap into our deepest creative reserves. The result: a massive brochure that showcases 13 merchants’ unique refinement.

The goal was both to give Carré Union its own brand image as a design destination, while preserving the brand notoriety of its 13 merchants: most of them recognized brands of their own, such as Marvin doors and windows, Jardin de Ville and Union Lighting & Decor.

The creative work

The brochure plays on the theme of design elements: each merchant is presented as a periodic element, part of the raw material designers and other professionals combine in creating their work. Carré Union acts as the periodic table where all these elements coexist. Copy further highlights the duality of art and science as part of design.

The project was printed using only two colors on offset paper for an intimate, tactile reading experience. Each double-spread features a merchant’s products and logo, as well as finely polished copy. The brochure’s large size attracts the eye, and Chicago screws add some metal chic to the binding.

Marketing success

This promotional piece was mailed to over 1,000 designers, and handed out in stores. Following the tremendous response, the 13 Carré Union merchants pooled their marketing resources again for a massive billboard campaign in upper scale Montreal neighborhoods.

The corporate brochure won BEST OF SHOW at the 2010 Summit Creative Awards.