PORTRAIT – Saint-Louis Sucre, La Tisanière, Chanel, Évian… In the shadows, this illustrator from Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) has spent her career customizing the packaging of products found in our cupboards.
His name is not known to the general public. And yet, his illustrations have entered the collective imagination. For 40 years, Béatrice Urseau has been designing for brands. The little chalets overlooking “RicheMonts” on a package of raclette cheese? It’s her. Raspberries placed in a pot of yogurt on a sachet of Saint-Louis powdered sugar? It’s her. This character holding flowers on a bag of La Tisanière? It’s her again. If she does not make the logo itself, she contributes to the visuals surrounding it. Sometimes she invents them alone, sometimes she remodernizes them: a real “teamwork” as she likes to call it. With marketing pushing to constantly renew itself, and the rights transferred not being eternal, some of his works met with a certain success before disappearing.
“I don’t exhibit in galleries but in supermarkets!”the illustrator is amused «free-lance» originally from Saint-Nazaire. Born in this port town of Loire-Atlantique, it was at the age of 18 that the drawing enthusiast managed to join one of the best art establishments, the Estienne school. “I had left my province and arrived in Paris”remembers with emotion the sixty-year-old who returned to live in her hometown during confinement. The only member of her family to pursue an artistic career, she knew absolutely nothing about it. At the time, she contacted agencies by finding numbers in The Yellow Pages and got an appointment two days later. Chance led her to work for brands. “My dream was to have an illustration in a Larousse dictionary”she remembers about a childhood wish. A wish never fulfilled but which never stopped her from enjoying her 42 years in Paris.
Overview of Béatrice Urseau’s illustrations
Access the slideshow (6)
Chanel, L’Oreal…
From Moscow to Dubai, where she was called to participate in the implementation of Lipton iced tea, via France and the carrot to fit into a restricted space of a La Tablée du Potager puree, her travel diary is well filled. In front of her digital “press-book”, which stands out with the paper notebook and pen that she continues to take out during her professional meetings, she thinks back to certain anecdotes. Focusing on the La Tisanière logo showing a young woman with flowers in her hands, she explains: “There, for example, we are going to rework the visual for six months to add a flower. It was difficult to get the arms into the frame because the position was unnatural.” As the artist summarizes in front of a notice drawn for a L’Oréal product: “It doesn’t show, but it’s a crazy job!”. For this one, she had to observe the performance of a hairdresser so as not to make a mistake. Sometimes dozens of people come to give their opinion. Mustela, Évian, Lactel, Neuville chocolates, and even Chanel… she has encountered many worlds.
“Look at these syrups, I could have drawn them”laughs Béatrice Urseau, in front of the bar counter where Le Figaro spoke with her. No illustration escapes him, like these beers which benefit from elegant and original visuals. She had the opportunity to «designer» strong alcohols. Some of his visuals have never been published, or confidentially. In fact, he has sometimes drawn products before they were released, in order to help the teams imagine them.
“End of the journey”
Now in “end of journey” as she herself says, those who practice realistic line drawing can increasingly give way to creativity and express their artistic soul. She paints houses or illustrates scenes of life which she sells. He happened to participate in the design of posters for neighborhood houses in Saint-Nazaire. Sometimes she returns to Paris, once a month. From now on, she is also involved in a local collective of illustrators called Splash!. Having come to present it in September during an association forum, her work was spotted by Ocean Press at that time.
At the end of a busy career that has not yet really ended, this Nazairean – who did not expect such a destiny – is proud to have “managed to live from [sa] passion. It’s a privilege to do a job you love.”. Talent, nerve, network… allowed him to live very well, at a time when resources were abundant, and to never get bored.
