Halcyon, a perfume house bottled in type.

Halcyon is the work of Sophie Laurent, a former nose at Chanel who left to make perfumes she could sign her name to. She came with three fragrances, a list of references (Agnès Varda, Charlotte Perriand, a specific shade of grey on a specific Paris afternoon), and no wordmark. She also came with a small budget and a loud opinion, which is the best combination a designer can ask for.

The wordmark is drawn by hand, slightly italic, slightly confident. It's set against a single warm grey — the same grey Sophie pointed to on that afternoon — and that grey is the entire brand. No secondary colours, no accent palette. If you need to say something, you say it in words. If you can't say it in words, you don't need to say it.

The packaging is a single sheet of Arjowiggins Keaykolour paper, die-cut and folded, no glue. The bottle is a standard 50ml apothecary flask with a cork stopper — the supplier has been making them since 1923. The only ornament is a printed edition number, in letterpress, on the back of the label.