Rediscovering XYZ

A few weeks ago, I tried to recover files from an old external hard drive over fifteen years old. It might seem surprising, but organizing, archiving, and documenting my projects have now become an integral part of my work—after many years of focusing on production and creation, during which those aspects were often pushed aside.

On this aging hard drive, I found work from the beginning of my higher education, when I was studying graphic design at École Estienne in Paris. While browsing the folders, I stumbled upon a completely forgotten project: XYZ. This rediscovery made me want to talk about it, as the project holds a unique place in the evolution of my approach.

The title — XYZ — wasn’t mine. It was part of an assignment given by our instructors: to design a weekly printed personal ads publication centered around so-called curious encounters. With all the maturity one could muster at twenty, we were encouraged to interpret and make the theme our own.