Illustration, white on black background, showing the winter nightime of Place des Arts, Montreal, Canada

montréal en lumière

More than twenty years ago, Montréal en Lumière began as a a winter gathering built around the idea that food could bring the city outside during the coldest month of the year, February.

Over time, the festival expanded, adding new layers of culture, and public celebration. Everybody knows Montréal en Lumière, but nobody remembers what it’s about. Here's my pitch for it.

Concept : Yes Chef! In a fast paced environment, where discipline rules, we find joy in the simplest things, like partying.

Hand holding a bag of oranges spilling on the floor in front of a tiled black and white kitchen wall. Found on Death to Stock: "hang in there" shot by Cecilia DI PAOLO

Black and white picture of a cook's striped kitchen apron Found on Death to Stock : "PLATING" Shot by Chris Abatzis

Forks interlocking eachother in a light and saturated blue background. Edited, but Found on Death to Stock : "GILDED CRAVINGS" shot by Daniel Farò

Spilled orange drink on stainless steel countertop. Found on death to Stock : PLATING shot by Chris Abatzis

Signeage Placement Map Illustrated with thin black lines and green, orange, blue and yellow dots. Street names are handwritten

Green dots : Informational Signs Blue Dots: Directional Signs Yellow dots : Identification Signs (Destination Panels) Orange Dots : Service Panels

Mockup of the Festival's main identification sign situated at their entry

For Montréal en Lumière, I envisionned an installation language that echoes the world of chefs: structured, disciplined, and built on precise technique, yet always ready for spontaneity and celebration.

Construction-wise, the combination of overhead lighting, a metal grid structure, concrete footings, loor cable protectors, coroplast panels, and tie wraps creates a sturdy and reliable installation.

This approach ensures clear visibility throughout the festival’s nighttime activities, while maintaining a lightweight, modular system that is easy to assemble and adapt across Montréal en Lumière.

Design Construction Mockup showing that the festival would use cable ties to tie coroplast onto a metal grid panel. An overhead light on top, and some cable ramps at the bottom.

System Details : showing the proportions of the type onto a coroplast panel

Typography "Neue montreal mono book, strictly uppercase, for a grid-like feel that blends well with the concept." Then Colour coding at the bottom : blue coroplast:Closest location, Green: furthest, orange : Services, White : default details on location , and black : Extra information.

Mockup of the panel family with an illustrated woman (1m74) in front to show proportions

Nightime mockup of an information panel, situated on St Catherine

ted mockup of a directional sign on St-Catherine in the middle of le Cartier des Spectacles

Illustrated mockup of a service panel indicating a bathroom. Mother leading child, hand in hand, towards it.

fr

montréal en lumière