Jaune Sardine
Jaune Sardine is a Marseille-based graphic design studio founded in 2014 serving public and cultural institutions with visual identities, mediation tools, and signage. The three-partner collective uses participatory design methodology involving workshops and co-creation with end users across France.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersMarseille, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Jaune Sardine does
Jaune Sardine is a graphic design studio based in Marseille, France, founded in 2014 by three partners—Lucie Martin, Ambre Simon, and Julien Iannone—who met during a master's program in graphic design. The firm is structured as a SARL (Société À Responsabilité Limitée) with 1–10 employees and operates across three core service categories: visual identity design (logotypes, graphic charters, color and typography systems), mediation tools (educational games, activity booklets, card games, collaborative workshop kits), and signage systems (urban marking, directional panels, interpretive signage, participatory murals). Its clients are predominantly French public and cultural institutions, including museums (Mucem, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Histoire de Marseille, West Bund Museum Shanghai), universities (Aix-Marseille Université, MMSH, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille), regional governments (Métropole Aix-Marseille Provence, Communauté d'agglomération Ventoux Comtat Venaissin, Parc Naturel Régional du Verdon), and cultural associations (Association Française des Orchestres, Frac Paca, CRESS PACA).
The studio's defining methodological asset is its three-phase participatory design process—Study (immersion, creative watching, consultation workshops), Conception (graphic principles, co-creation sessions), and Realization (formatting, fabrication, participatory construction, training). This approach generates named deliverables such as the 70-meter Wallam participatory fresco co-produced with astrophysics students, the 30-pictogram Malaucène orientation signage co-designed with residents, the bilingual Voice of Things exhibition guide for West Bund Museum Shanghai, and the standalone Le Graphinéma cinema-composition educational kit distributed via its own product site.
Revenue is generated through project-based commissions and competitive public-sector procurement calls for tenders, with pricing handled on a quotation basis. The studio uses an outsourced collaborator model—specialist partners handle fabrication (Les Marsiens), landscape integration (Par Ailleurs Paysages), web development (Wagaia, E-labo, Agence id Meneo), photography, and motion graphics—which allows scaling without permanent hires. The business has received no external funding since founding, retains founder control, and markets primarily through its portfolio website and organic social (Instagram, Behance, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook) supplemented by a newsletter.
Jaune Sardine firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Jaune Sardine
- Legal name
- Jaune Sardine SARL
- Website
- https://jaune-sardine.fr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Jaune Sardine is a Marseille-based graphic design studio founded in 2014 serving public and cultural institutions with visual identities, mediation tools, and signage. The three-partner collective uses participatory design methodology involving workshops and co-creation with end users across France.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Jaune Sardine industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Graphic Design Services
- NAICS
- Graphic Design Services (541430), Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (54185), Graphic Design Services (54143)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Wayfinding, Signage & Environmental Graphic Design (BPAHAKAN)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- DTP & Multilingual Creative Production (Layout, Typesetting) (MPAAANAG)
Keywords
Where Jaune Sardine is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Marseille
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Jaune Sardine business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Design Services: Project-based design services for public and cultural institutions including visual identity design, mediation tools development, and signage/signalétique creation. Revenue is generated through direct client commissions and competitive public procurement.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Jaune Sardine product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Jaune Sardine is a participatory graphic design studio that designs visual identities (logotypes, graphic charters, typography systems), custom signage and wayfinding (urban marking, interpretive panels, participatory murals), and mediation tools (educational card games, activity booklets, collaborative workshops, interactive pedagogical materials). Deliverables are tailored to public and cultural institutions and are produced through a participatory methodology that involves end-users in co-creation.
Product overview
Jaune Sardine is a Marseille-based participatory graphic design studio founded in 2014, offering three interconnected service areas: visual identities (identités visuelles), signage (signalétique), and mediation tools (outils de médiation). The studio's core offering centers on collaborative design methodology involving immersion, encounters, workshops, and collective creation with public audiences. Its portfolio includes specific named products such as Le Graphinéma (a cinema composition educational tool), Festival Jeu de l'Oie visual identities, and various card games and activity booklets. Projects range from institutional visual identity systems to urban signage, educational games, and participatory murals for cultural institutions and public structures across France.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Le Graphinéma: A mobile and modular educational tool for sensitization to cinema poster composition, designed in coproduction with Cannes Cinéma and regional film education centers.
Products and services
- Identités visuelles (Visual identities)
Quantifiable outcome
- Malaucène project: 30 pictograms created with residents, 200 cement squares painted by citizens, 40 workshop participants aged 6-55
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Jaune Sardine
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Jaune Sardine technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Jaune Sardine partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Les MarsienscoreCollaboration on multiple urban marking and furniture projects including Frais Vallon nudge projects (elementary schools and college), Menelik wooden stand fabrication, and Le fabuleux terrier collective.
- La Compagnie des Rêves UrbainscoreCollaboration on Frais Vallon nudge projects for consultation and community engagement activities, and Frais Vallon #2 college project.
- AnamorphosemajorCollaboration on Festival Jeu de l'oie visual identity projects with Emmanuel Roy for coordination and Annabel Roux for web design.
- Annabel RouxmajorWeb design collaboration for Festival Jeu de l'oie projects.
- Emmanuel RoymajorCoordination and web development collaboration for Festival Jeu de l'oie.
- Par Ailleurs PaysagescoreCo-traitant (co-contractor) on PNR Verdon project for archaeological heritage interpretation, ensuring harmonious landscape integration.
- Geoffrey PauchardminorCollaboration on Tableau modulaire project for Inter-Made and Tous citoyens! exhibition project.
- Atelier GeorgesminorTapisserie (upholstery) workshop collaboration for Le Hasard de A à Z exhibition dice project.
- E-labominorWeb development collaboration for Festival Jeu de l'oie 2020 digital edition.
- Rémi DebreuminorPhotography credit for La fabrique des quartiers project.
- Mathilde LebreuilminorPhotographer for Marseille et le sport exhibition and Festival des Sciences et des Arts projects.
- Christophe PereiraminorVideo production for Wallam project documenting the 70m participatory fresco.
- Jérôme CabanelminorIconography creation for MMSH visual identity.
- Philippe GroscauxminorIconography creation for MMSH visual identity.
- Sophie PastorellominorMotion graphics animation for Festival des Sciences et des Arts 2025 (Science & Croyances theme).
- UltravioletminorRisography printing for Festival des Sciences et des Arts 2024 exhibition materials.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Jaune Sardine competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- &Walsh (formerly Sagmeister & Walsh): Independent design studio with deep cultural and public-interest sector work and a craft-led, partner-led structure analogous to Jaune Sardine's three-founder model.
- Catalyst Design Group: Boutique international firm specializing in wayfinding, signage, and interpretive graphics for cultural institutions, museums, and public spaces — directly comparable to Jaune Sardine's signalétique practice.
Direct peers
- Grands Chênes: French design studio specializing in visual identity, editorial, and signage for cultural and public-sector clients — closely overlapping with Jaune Sardine's three service areas.
- Atelier Bingo: Independent French graphic design studio producing visual identities, editorial design, and bespoke cultural projects for similar institutional and cultural clients.
- H5: Paris-based design agency focused on cultural, luxury, and institutional clients with a comparable mix of identity and digital work, though typically larger in headcount.
- Brand Brothers: Paris-based independent design studio with a strong focus on cultural, social-sector, and public-interest clients — directly comparable to Jaune Sardine's positioning on cultural and institutional work.
- Spassky Fischer: Paris-based independent graphic design studio creating visual identities and editorial systems for cultural and institutional clients in the same size band as Jaune Sardine.
Broad incumbents
- Superunion: Global brand and design consultancy (formerly Brand Union) with strong public-sector and cultural practice; competes for the same institutional RFPs that Jaune Sardine targets.
- Pentagram: Global design consultancy with offices in major cities including Paris; serves cultural and public-sector clients with branding, identity, and wayfinding — same service categories as Jaune Sardine but at vastly greater scale and broader scope.
- Wolff Olins: Global brand consultancy with cultural, public-sector, and civic engagement clients — competes for major institutional identity and signage tenders.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Jaune Sardine social profiles
Digital presenceJaune Sardine financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Jaune Sardine leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Jaune Sardine funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Jaune Sardine M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Jaune Sardine
What does Jaune Sardine do?
Jaune Sardine is a participatory graphic design studio that designs visual identities (logotypes, graphic charters, typography systems), custom signage and wayfinding (urban marking, interpretive panels, participatory murals), and mediation tools (educational card games, activity booklets, collaborative workshops, interactive pedagogical materials). Deliverables are tailored to public and cultural institutions and are produced through a participatory methodology that involves end-users in co-creation.
Is Jaune Sardine a public or private company?
Jaune Sardine is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Jaune Sardine founded?
Jaune Sardine was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Jaune Sardine based?
Jaune Sardine is headquartered in Marseille, France, in the Europe region.
How does Jaune Sardine make money?
One revenue line is on record: design Services.
Who are Jaune Sardine's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are &Walsh (formerly Sagmeister & Walsh) and Catalyst Design Group. Direct peers are Grands Chênes, Atelier Bingo, H5, Brand Brothers and Spassky Fischer. Broad incumbents are Superunion, Pentagram and Wolff Olins.
Does Jaune Sardine have an API?
No public API is recorded for Jaune Sardine.
What industry is Jaune Sardine in?
Jaune Sardine's product category is Graphic Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAN, Wayfinding, Signage & Environmental Graphic Design, with a secondary code of MPAAANAG, DTP & Multilingual Creative Production (Layout, Typesetting). Its NAICS code is 541430 and its SIC code is 7330.