Joseph le Callennec

“It’s a pretty good bet that you, dear reader, have never even heard of Joseph Le Callennec, but you have very probably held his work in your hands. Le Callennec was the brilliant graphic designer of the game that, for many years, was France’s global best-seller, Mille Bornes.”

Tony Durand, curator of the exhibition

Tony Durand, graphic designer and visual artist, oscillates perpetually between commission and personal research work. 

Questioning the reasons that led him to practice graphic design, he identifies the 1000 Bornes as one of the first "visual shocks" received in his childhood, describing the famous game as a kind of graphic perfection.

It is likely that 1000 Bornes instantly evokes to you some childhood memories, with its neat compositions with bold colors that have ability to strongly imprint the memory. But do you know who is hiding behind one of the biggest French board game successes? 

Joseph Le Callennec (1905-1988), an artist as discreet as fascinating, represents, perhaps, one of the best kept secrets of 20th century French graphic design. Absent from anthologies and other accounts of graphic design dealing with this period, Joseph Le Callennec is nevertheless at the origin of significant graphic creations. 

In order to better understand the origin of this visual madeleine, Tony Durand undertook a long research work on Joseph Le Callennec. Despite the disappearance of a number of archives due to the flooding of the cellar in which they were kept, it was the breathless work of an investigator and biographer that enabled him, after several years of research, to bring together a collection of objects more extensive than expected, giving an overview of the entire career of this mysterious graphic designer, in all its diversity. 

If Joseph Le Callennec is known for the twenty or so games he designed, including two versions of the 1000 Bornes, he is also at the origin of logos, illustrations and book covers, but also of a few publications. for youth, as well as posters for events and causes of public interest, especially in times of war. 

 Staging the research of Tony Durand, this exhibition gives a view of the creations of Joseph Le Callennec, a typographer who became a talented graphic designer, creator of the design of one of the most famous board games of recent decades.