Deduce and Lance Wyman collaborate on the identification of the El Palacio de Hierro retailer
El Palacio de Hierro is one of Mexico's leading retailers, with department stores across the country. It's a brand, but each store has unique design elements based on the history and character of their location.
Renovations to the Pedregal store in Mexico City began in 2018, and Lance Wyman's work in Mexico in the 1960s and 70s, including the design for the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the 1970 World Cup, and the Mexico Metro – City, was mentioned in the order.
“El Palacio de Hierro approached us to create a unique identity for the Pedregal business,” says Andy Butler, Creative Director at Deduce. "They were calling for something" modern but timeless, "referring to the work Lance had done in Mexico in the 1960s when the city's Pedregal area was being developed."
Early logo studies
Lance Wyman and Andy Butler
“It was important that our solution worked well for all architectural applications and could be used alongside the main El Palacio de Hierro logo. We also had to use Palacio's black and yellow color scheme, ”Butler continues. “While Lance and I were exchanging ideas, we decided on a logo that had the multiple Ps in the name because it could be symmetrical and allow for patterns.
“At the same time, we looked at architectural references and found that we could create an“ eye of the bull ”with the Ps – a four-pass shape that can be found all over Mexico City. We drew on the bold lines of pre-Hispanic art and gradually broke up the logo that set the tone for the rest of the project. "
Font for the store
Signage for the store
The duo then used the logo as a starting point from which they developed a custom font and pictograms for the wayfinding system. "Repeating the logo creates multiple patterns that are applied to a wide variety of surfaces, from metalwork to wood and tile to packaging," says Butler. "We then developed a custom two-stroke font based on the P of the logo and a series of pictograms for the wayfinding system."
This isn't the first time Butler and Wyman have worked together. "I've worked with Lance a number of times in the past six or seven years," says Butler. “In 2013 I wrote about his work for Designboom. That's how we got to know each other and became friends. A year later, he asked me to help with some aspects of his retrospective exhibition at MUAC in 2014, and I worked with him on his website, which we are currently revising. We collaborated on an identity for a design festival in 2016 and a pin to raise funds for the earthquake in Mexico in 2017. We are also working together on some projects that are still in progress. "
Bag with the new design
Pin for the Pedregal Store
Tiles in the Pedregal store
Butler describes the work on the Pedregal project as "a lot of fun". "It was one of those times when it all came together and merged between the design team and the client," he says. "We had a clear mission and I and Lance work well together so it was a lot of fun and, as always with Lance, I learned a lot."
The new design in El Palacio de Hierro will be implemented in the course of 2020.
Credits:
Creative Director: Lance Wyman
Graphic design: Lance Wyman, Andy Butler