Compagnie 3B Presskit by Florian Cornut

Florian Cornut structured the Compagnie 3B presskit using stark Swiss editorial design, Dinamo Monument Grotesk type, and club photography.

Commissioned to translate Victor Jestin’s 2022 novel L’homme qui danse into a performance dossier, Bordeaux-based art director Florian Cornut built a layout system anchored by severe contrasts. The narrative traces Arthur, an alienated protagonist who spends three decades dancing in provincial nightclubs like La Plage. Rather than dressing the document in theatrical embellishments, Cornut lets unvarnished typography confront stark documentary images. The dossier pairs raw architectural daylight photography by François Prost—depicting roadside club facades like La Fiesta with artificial palm trees—against Dinamo’s Monument Grotesk. High-contrast headlines command the page opposite deadpan environmental views. This disciplined editorial design sets up immediate tension between mundane provincial reality and nocturnal trance.

Swiss Grid Architecture and Theatrical Editorial Design

The interior spreads operate on an asymmetrical Swiss grid governed by a persistent left-hand navigation column. Marked with a small-caps (SOMMAIRE) indicator and a thin horizontal rule, this index tracks the production outline from initial rehearsals to lighting cue documentation. Cornut activates generous whitespace across the right-hand canvas, positioning bilingual French and English copy blocks in clean two-column groupings. Running headers and footers anchor exact metadata, including contact coordinates and fractional pagination like 01/27. Monument Grotesk shifts effortlessly from monumental bottom-corner numerals to micro-scale technical credits. Through strict typographic alignment and hairline rule dividers, this editorial design brings administrative rigor to stage choreography.

Live performance ephemera often leans on chaotic collages, but Cornut treats the press dossier as an architectural publication. Documenting the staging of Arthur la Nuit at the Iboat during the Été métropolitain festival, the dossier integrates performance photos by Hélène Marx alongside stage direction credits for Janloup Bernard, Clarisse Bernez-Cambot Labarta, and performer Étienne Bories. Uncoated monochrome cardstock and bound press sheets emphasize tactile pacing. White negative space frames the text with quiet authority, ensuring technical coproduction partners and booking directors navigate the material without friction. This editorial design demonstrates that cultural press collateral achieves its greatest impact when structural clarity guides the reading eye.

See the full editorial design project by Florian Cornut on Behance.