Moon gives France Soir ‘le look anglais’

France Soir, the French newspaper, was relaunched last week in Paris following a total redesign by London consultancy Moon Communications.

Something of a national institution, the paper now uses a British format dubbed “le look anglais” by the French media. The paper now sports a sans serif masthead, back page sport, and more extensive style guides on headlines, subtitles and layouts.

The morning daily now also prints on a whiter paper stock and breaks the French newspaper mould by previewing pictures of inside stories at the top of its cover. Pentagram Design partner David Hillman first used the idea in The Guardian in the late 1980s.

Following the acquisition of the ailing France Soir, by retired media baron Georges Ghosn, Moon was appointed to remodel the paper without a pitch.

“As a British group, we were privileged to be asked to redesign such a source of national pride. Like all the papers he has bought, Georges [Ghosn] is looking to radically change France Soir,” he adds.

The five-strong consultancy, headed by president Richard Moon, has already relaunched three French financial papers previously owned by Ghosn, L’Agefi, La Tribune and Le Nouvel Economiste.