French homeless charity rebrand distances itself from founder

The Fondation Abbé Pierre, a French charity that campaigns in favour of affordable housing, required a new identity following accusations of abuse made by multiple girls and women against its deceased founder. In designing a new look and feel to the charity, global branding and design agency Lonsdale altered the name to Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés (Foundation for the Housing for the Disadvantaged).

After a reputation crisis ensued following accusations made against founder Abbé Pierre, a once-adored priest in France, the charity decided to undergo a rebrand. However, due to legal and administrative constraints, it could only make a ‘soft’ change from its original name: Fondation Abbé Pierre pour le Logements des Défavorisés.

Christophe Robert, managing director at the Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés, says, "With this new identity, we are opening a new chapter, full of hope, marked by combativeness and fraternity. The decision to change our name was difficult, but we had to do it out of respect for the victims, our teams and the poorly housed people who rely on our support.

“This new identity is an important step in our history, necessary to maintain our capacity for action, guarantee our independence and finance our actions. While the year 2024 has been marked by many renunciations in terms of housing policy and 350,000 people are homeless in France (twice as many as in 2012), we must continue to fight our battle with determination and commitment.”

The new visual design centres around an exclamation mark, which features the silhouette of a house, and underscores the charity’s spirit of protest. While the house appeared in the old design, the updated one is open, symbolising the charity’s commitment to transparency.

Elsewhere, the brand retains its original colours (stark white and black accented with orange), while custom typeface Fondation Logement has been added to the logo.

Alessandro Bolchi, creative director at Lonsdale, adds, "The Fondation's fight today echoes the call of the winter of ‘54, which put a spotlight on social misery and poor housing in France. This fight is more relevant than ever. With an activist design, focused around an indignation point, the new identity of Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés was designed to reflect this spirit of insurrection, this courage and this determination to act, which are its cardinal values."