Print · Verlain Frères
A bicentenary told through a bank’s archive, made as an object readers would choose to keep.
The brief
Verlain Frères wanted to mark its bicentenary with the people shaping Coravia’s financial sector. Its archive was substantial; the risk was producing a corporate chronology that nobody would finish.
Montlior proposed a bound editorial supplement carried inside the Saturday edition. Access to the bank’s archive was unrestricted, while the final story order and design remained with the Studio.
Approach
Seven themes replaced the expected year-by-year history. Researchers worked through ledgers, correspondence and architectural plans, then commissioned independent essays on trust, inheritance and the changing meaning of private capital.
Delivery
Uncoated stock, sewn binding and a restrained two-colour system gave the supplement the character of an archival volume. Every commercial page was labelled and separated from the Saturday edition by a tipped-in title leaf.
Result
Prompted awareness among senior-finance readers rose 31%. In the follow-up panel, 44% still had the supplement three months later, and the bank used a private reprint for client libraries.
A similar brief?
We will tell you what deserves to become a publication—and what should stay in the records room.
