Bernard Baissait has been a graphic designer since the 1970s. Today, this internationally recognized artist traces his life through his new book, now available in bookstores and online. The town of Vulaines-sur-Seine can proudly claim Bernard Baissait among its residents - he is one of France's greatest graphic designers. With fifty years of creation, more than two hundred cultural posters, and an intact passion for contemporary art, his story represents an international journey and a new vision of art.
"I was born in Samoreau, lived in Vulaines and Héricy, but most of my professional life took place in Paris," the artist explains. His career began in the 1970s working alongside Jean Widmer, a legendary figure in French graphic design. At the Visuel Design agency, he participated in creating the pictograms that still adorn French highways today.
"Initially, when he had the budget, he hired me and then we worked together on the shape of the signs, the numbers, all the layout for three years," Baissait recalls. This rigorous training would profoundly mark his aesthetic approach. After a notable period in advertising from 1978 to 1985, he never stopped traveling around the world. Armed with this experience, he chose to turn toward culture.
In 1990, he founded Compagnie Bernard Baissait Paris, specializing exclusively in cultural budgets. This decision led him to collaborate with France's most prestigious institutions including the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, the Picasso Museum, as well as numerous provincial museums.
"I love art, especially contemporary art. I've had the chance to meet an enormous number of artists through this work," he says. His agency quickly became a reference in Parisian cultural circles. His aesthetic is characterized by a very typographic approach, inherited from his Swiss training, then elevated by bold use of color. His posters, often stripped of superfluous decorative elements, draw their strength from the dialogue between text and vibrant colors.
One of his most emblematic posters? His work for the exhibition on the dwarfs of Bagatelle in 2001. "It's a poster that made me known and it's funny, people still talk to me about it," he laughs.
With an exceptional career, he has managed to navigate all the mutations of the graphic designer profession, from the era of overlays and photocomposition to the digital age. His perspective on this evolution mixes nostalgia and lucidity.
"At the beginning, we worked with a studio and overlays, and then computers arrived. I said goodbye to all the trades that surrounded me," he reflects. He regrets the disappearance of artisanal know-how. "There was a quality especially in photography - what I regret is photoengraving, because now everyone tinkers around on their own with Photoshop."
At 77 years old, this graduate of the Paris Decorative Arts school now presents the culmination of his work through the publication of a retrospective book and a major exhibition scheduled for next September at the Printing Museum of Malesherbes. After eighteen years of intensive creation, Bernard Baissait brings together the essence of his work in a volume that presents 260 cultural posters.
"I started choosing, and the next day I changed my mind, so I decided to put almost all my work in it," he explains. An exhibition at the Printing Museum of Malesherbes will also be dedicated to him next fall.
Now retired from active practice, he continues to invest himself in projects centered around art. His passion remains intact. "I've had a great life, which unfortunately passed in two seconds. I found myself at 70 years old. I didn't see the time pass."
The book can be found in bookstores around Héricy or ordered online. "Des affiches, des graphistes, Compagnie Bernard Baissait" is published by Editions du Puits Fleuri, 288 pages, 39 euros.
For drivers on French highways, Baissait's legacy lives on in the road signs and pictograms that guide millions of travelers daily - a testament to how graphic design shapes our everyday experiences in ways we rarely pause to consider. His transition from highway signage to cultural posters represents a unique journey through the evolution of French visual communication, bridging the gap between functional design and artistic expression.
The upcoming exhibition promises to showcase not just his poster work, but the entire arc of his career - from those early days working on highway infrastructure to his later years crafting visual identities for some of France's most important cultural institutions. It represents a rare opportunity to see how one designer's vision has influenced both the practical and cultural landscape of modern France.
