Over seven years, I shaped the visual identity of this interior design studio in Normandy: concept photography, video, print, and creative direction.
A Personal Beginning, Built on Respect
Our collaboration began in 2017 with a phone call. Not to start a project, but to share a loss. The director of L’Atelier Gris Mousse called to tell me her partner had passed away. He had been my first employer.
He gave me my start, and we stayed in touch over the years, with real mutual respect. He often spoke to her about my work, with pride and a kind of paternal warmth.
So when she decided to rethink her communication, it felt natural for her to ask me.
From Concept to Execution
One of the first steps was the new slogan: “New horizons for your interior design.”
To bring it to life, I proposed something offbeat: staging a full dining room on a beach.
She was hesitant at first. To convince her, I explained what I was after: to stand out, to show something other than the usual interior-design communication, where you could swap one studio’s name for another and nothing would change, because the images are all the same. She trusted me, and she committed fully: gathering the furniture, organizing transport, finding people to carry everything across the sand.
A Dining Room on the Beach
The shoot was made for the So Home 2017 fair in Deauville. We set up a full dining room on the beach: table, chairs, sideboard, under open sky, facing wind and waves. No walls, no ceiling. We also filmed the setup.
At the fair, the video ran on a loop on the stand. Video pulls people in from a distance, and it did. The stand was large, a corner unit spanning three spaces, and it stayed full from morning to evening. We had printed brochures and postcard invitations for the salon, and the brochures ran out faster than we had planned. Many visitors had never heard of the Atelier and came over for the decor and the unusual staging, then found their way to the boutique afterward. The campaign also led to new work with local professionals, especially for wedding decor and event styling.
Filmed during the first shoot, this behind-the-scenes video shows a full dining room being set up on a Normandy beach.
A Living Room in the Stables
We wanted to shoot again the year after the beach, but finding the right stable took longer than expected: it had to match exactly what we had in mind. So the second shoot came two years later. This time, a living room set up in a working stable. The contrast between the furniture and the raw surroundings gave the images their character. Her clients responded right away.
This shoot also became the cover of a detailed three-panel leaflet, built around the slogan we had defined at the start, “New horizons for your interior design.” It reached further than we expected. Clients responded to it, several professionals became her clients after receiving it, and local real estate agencies kept asking for more copies to hand to clients looking for an interior designer. It was reprinted many times. You can see it, with the rest of her printed communication, further down the page.
In-Store Styling and Everyday Photography
Beyond the concept shoots, I regularly photographed the boutique: lighting, furniture, textiles, decorative pieces, styled to reflect her taste. These images presented the space as both inspiring and easy to approach.
Printed Communication & Brand Collateral
I designed and produced the studio’s full range of printed material: a folded three-panel leaflet, an A3 promotional sheet, the poster and the postcard invitations for the So Home fair in Deauville, a large roll-up banner for events, boutique flyers, product price tags, and project moodboards. I took the photographs, built the layouts, and chose the print suppliers so the paper and the finish matched the rest of the brand.
A Chapter That Ends, but a Presence That Lasts
In 2024, L’Atelier Gris Mousse closed when its director moved on to a new venture.
It was a long and generous collaboration. She gave me her trust and real creative freedom, and the work carries that.
Client Testimonial
“Working with Charles from Camarda Visual Studio was a true revelation. From our very first conversations, I was struck by his rigor and professionalism. Every detail was considered, every step justified, with clarity and a strong overall vision.
But what impressed me most was his boldness. He never hesitated to suggest strong, innovative, sometimes unexpected ideas, always relevant. You could feel that he approached the project as if it were his own company, with the same dedication and high standards.
He also knew how to bring in trusted collaborators when needed, which made everything run smoothly and reinforced the overall quality.
His availability was also invaluable. He was present at every stage, responsive, and always listening. He made this collaboration feel fluid, human, and truly co-created.
In short: a collaboration that was efficient, energizing, and, above all, deeply committed.”
Video, photography and print from one place
The dining room on the beach, the living room in the stable, the printed material that followed. Same eye, same session, nothing to make match afterwards.