World Design Spotlight: Pepe Gimeno’s palm tree

When anybody enters the Valencian Community, whether they travel down from the north or up from the south, one of the first things they find, upon approaching a beach or place of interest in the mountains, is the palm tree designed by Pepe Gimeno for institutional tourism in the eighties. A palm tree that has survived over the decades and which was born with the vicissitudes inherent to its time. 

“We presented a proposal for the call launched by the Administration, specifically by the Instituto Turístico Valenciano (ITVA), in a group of three designers (Paco Bascuñán, Cándido Pérez and I) with three different proposals. We had prepared them without a briefing or anything like that, just a few clues about the idea they had, which was to find a single symbol,” explains the designer Pepe Gimeno. 

“Palm trees are present in the landscape of the Valencian Community, you can see them all around the region, so it occurred to me to add the colours of the flag to this initial drawing of a plant, so that it was a palm tree but also a kind of firework display. Both elements, palm tree and fireworks, are very Valencian.”

“Of the three projects we presented they chose the palm tree which, at first, was only for the Tourist offices and some posters. Shortly afterwards, the Tourism Department took possession (in a good way) of the symbol, but they mixed it with the letters of the brand image they wanted to promote at that time, Mediterrània, designed by Javier Mariscal. They joined two graphic elements in a single image. It took me years to assert that the palm tree was my design, there was quite a lot of confusion owing to the mixing of the work of two different designers in a single identity,” explains Gimeno. 

“The political changes toppled the Mediterrània proposal, but they maintained the palm tree and began to work with it as a single symbol for all the signage relating to tourism in the region. Since then, the palm tree has continued growing, it has marked beaches, inland tourist attractions … it has been used very much.”

“The design was easily accepted. The clients knew what they were doing and they chose the palm tree, without hesitation. They knew the market they moved in, they knew the environment very well, it was their sector, not mine. But the secret of a designer is to do a lot of listening, to learn everything the client can tell you. One of the most important parts of this work is knowing how to listen and knowing how to see. Translating that information to transfer it to an image. Translate, clean, and draw the desired concept. The labour of a designer is also very intuitive. That’s where creativity lies.”

Gimeno’s palm tree is a symbol that was born under a lucky star. “The tourism industry in Valencia has always been very sectorized and quite divided into geographic zones, the different names had been conflictive … but this symbol was a nexus and they have all wanted to sit in the shade of this palm tree. It has not even moved with the different political changes, despite some attempts. The tourism sector has supported it strongly and that has been very important for its continuity,” points out the designer.

The original analogical drawing of the palm tree with crossing carbon strokes, a broken and very uneven silhouette had to be trimmed when the time came to digitize it because otherwise it would be impossible to manage. 

“The time came to redesign it. We are in 1998. The palm tree keeps the same structure, but we are geometrizing it, leaving a much simpler vector. The colours are also adapted to four-colour process and the palm tree is formed with more robust strokes, adapted to visual trends. The name is also changed, leaving just Turisme, and making the most of this change of name its typography is slightly modified, also making it more robust, stronger, making more of a mark. More visible, in short.”

Despite the minimal updates, the design remains current. “Time has treated it well. This usually happens with my designs, they age well. Sometimes I find it difficult to explain this to clients to begin with, but time proves me right (laughs).” 

The vicissitudes suffered by each design are uncertain. “You never know how life will treat each design. Many factors come into play to make a design survive. Political changes have left many good designs locked in drawers,” he points out.

With perspective, what has this work given you? “This work has had a lot of ups and downs, and many different applications, this campaign has been very important for our studio because it has had a constant presence in society. It has been a very good experience.” 

The idea that one of your creations can be seen in Orihuela as well as Benicassim, right across the region … does it make you feel proud? “Whenever I see that design around it takes me back to when I presented it, to the doubts, the variables … you jump, then you see how well you have jumped. Life is a roller coaster, what a long way this design has come.” 

“To begin with I was amazed when I saw my designs in the city, now I’m used to it. The logo of Les Corts, the logo of the EMT, the palm tree … It’s nice. It’s also true that I’ve been working for a long time. I’ve been in the right place at the right time, I remember talking about it to Paco Bascuñán and saying, ‘You have to make the most of it.’ It was a very interesting time, but it was also hard. In the eighties we were making up for the delay we had compared to Europe, at least 25 years, altogether.” 

“We didn’t have the necessary training, we faced up to life with no idea, with no access to role models (because of language, for example), we began with a handicap, everything was there to be done but it wasn’t so easy to do it. Everything was chaotic and it was necessary to find the path. We were young and intrepid. Ignorance launches you (laughs),” he explains.

“I risked a lot because I left things aside to take a creative route, but I didn’t really know which. My father was a farmer, my mother was a housewife … I wanted to do something artistic, but I had no role models to guide me. To begin with I went in for interior design. I discovered drawing for advertising when I went to college. That was what would later be the design school. All the teachers came from a fine arts background, so my training was very artistic with zero graphic design. I left with a lot of technical lagoons that I had to learn on my own. When you start working you see everything that you don’t know. The artistic knowledge, which I did have, I valued later. As a generation we bridge the gap between analogical and digital, we have seen both, and that also enriches you. Although it has its limitations, we have been quite privileged.” 

“You are always in the hands of fate. The circumstances have been favourable, we have to thank providence because, it is true that we have a long track record, but you never know how each design will work. It’s a mystery. This is a very uncertain world, you are never absolutely sure it is going to work. Time is the judge, therefore you have to learn to relativize things,” concludes the winner of the 2020 National Design Award.