Client
Les Bordes Estate
DATE
2024-2026
Fully serviced luxury residences immersed in wellness
Les Bordes Estate is a 1,400-acre private estate in the Loire Valley, set deep in the Sologne forest, a couple of hours from Paris.
It’s one of Europe’s most desirable private estates, but it doesn’t shout about it. It’s calm, considered and grounded in nature.
At its core is a serious golf offering, with the Old Course by Robert von Hagge and the New Course by Gil Hanse, ranked among the world’s top 100. But this isn’t just about golf.
The estate is expanding, with an equestrian centre developed with Olympic gold medallist Scott Brash, a Six Senses resort, branded residences and a spa, alongside lakes, riding, cycling and plenty of space to simply disappear into.
The ambition was growing, and the brand needed to catch up.
Bringing the brand in line with the ambition
World’s Finest are the official sales and marketing partner of Les Bordes, responsible for how the estate is positioned and presented internationally.
They specialise in exceptional private estates and branded residences, so by the time I joined the team, there was already a very clear sense of the level Les Bordes needed to sit at.
I came in as a freelance designer just as things were accelerating, working closely with the Chief Brand Officer to start shaping the refresh, testing ideas, pushing things around and gradually finding the right direction.
As Les Bordes itself became more ambitious, it was clear the brand needed to better reflect where the estate was heading.
A single letter C
Like every identity project, there were dozens of ideas. Some disappeared quickly, others evolved into entirely new directions. But the more we explored, the more the monogram simply made sense. The simpler it became, the more everything seemed to click.
A single letter C became the building block for the entire mark. Reflected and repeated, it creates the C & B while quietly forming the first link in a chain, expressing how CBI connects businesses, partners and humanitarian organisations into stronger networks. The transparent overlap reinforces ideas of coordination, resilience and collaboration across every stage of an emergency. It also raised one obvious question. If the organisation is called CBI, where's the i?
As the project evolved, the answer became obvious. The symbol was never there to spell out CBI. It was there to capture what sits at the heart of the organisation. Connecting businesses. That's where the real energy was, so that's where the identity found its focus.
Colour followed a similar journey. The original ambition was to leave UN blue behind altogether, but the further we explored, the clearer it became that there was value in keeping that visual connection. Rather than abandoning it, we refined it. The two blues from OCHA and UNDP remained, complemented by a carefully chosen turquoise that gave CBI a distinctive colour of its own while allowing the three identities to sit comfortably alongside one another.
As the brand evolved, the curve of the C naturally grew into the wider design language. It created the distinctive white spaces that frame photography and content throughout the brand, giving everything from conference banners and pull-up displays to reports and presentations a recognisable thread that quietly ties the whole identity together. Together with the colour palette, it gave the identity a consistent visual language that could flex across every touchpoint while always feeling unmistakably CBI.
In the end, it became a simple expression of what sets CBI apart, strengthening partnerships long before a disaster strikes and long after the immediate response has passed. The same thinking runs through every part of the identity, from the logo itself to the photography, graphics and colour system, creating a brand that feels connected wherever it appears.