Céline Leboissetier and Mélody Magot Parratte launched Marlone in 2016, a stationery brand. Their posters of the parks of Montreal aroused a real enthusiasm from their beginnings and, since then, their universe seduced. The notebooks are flowery, the greeting cards festive and the posters colorful.
The two French-born met in Montreal in 2014. Mélody graduated from the École Supérieure d’Art de Lorraine and works as a graphic designer, while Céline, after studying at a business school, worked for a trends agency. Their two profiles complement each other well and above all, they have the same references. “It really clicked between us, we have so much in common, our background, we love travel, colors and we have the same inspirations,” says Céline.
It all started with tote bags. “We wanted to design the reusable bag and make it a fashion item. We created a series of bags with several themes, it worked very well in the store. We ended up doing a lot and that allowed us to launch our brand,” recalls Mélody.
Marlone subsequently created a collection of posters for Montreal’s 375th anniversary. “Montreal is for us a city centered on nature. Parks are real places to live and meet all year round, whatever the season. We had the idea of making a variation of posters around the major parks of Montreal and the seasons. There’s Mount Royal Park, Laurier Park, La Fontaine Park, Molson Park, and even Jarry Park, because there’s been demand! “says Celine.
In their collection of posters, there are other emblematic places of Montreal and Quebec like Percé Rock, then came notebooks and notepads with flowery illustrations, some with gymnasts and skaters, others with zebra stripes.
Their inspiration? “Nature, flowers, the retro aesthetic of New Wave films, the musical poetry of Serge Gainsbourg and Pierre Lapointe, travel, and Nicolas Party, the Swiss artist whose exhibition L’heure mauve was presented at the Museum of Fine Arts last year,” says Mélody.
Illustration is their means of expression. “People are more and more sensitive to the illustration that has become more democratized in recent years, we see it in public spaces, on murals, and in the packaging of many products,” they say.
Marlone is also an illustration service for brands. “We sell the Marlone style to our customers, our creativity on their support. For example, Marlone recently illustrated with pretty colors the case of the new eyeshadow collection from the Quebec cosmetics brand Watier. There was a collaboration with the City of Montreal for the illustration of basketball backboards. There was a collection of t-shirts for Dynamite, packaging for the Allo Simonne chocolate factory. “What’s great about these contracts is that you touch on different mediums. This allows brands to showcase local creativity and it’s great visibility for us,” says Céline.
In their wildest dreams, they would like to collaborate with Simons for a collection of household linens, create labels for wine or beer bottles, packaging for food products, create the interior of a vehicle, a airplane, train. “We have no limits!” exclaims the duo.
Céline and Mélody care about the environment. “Everything is created, printed and manufactured here. This has been essential for us since our beginnings. We also give back to organizations and civic foundations. We created a triptych of posters for La Chapelle du quai, an organization in the village of Rivière-Ouelle that organizes cultural events to showcase the St. Lawrence River, and we also made a poster for the Société de conservation des Îles-de-la-Madeleine,” Celine gives as an example.
The most touching thing for the creative duo is to enter people’s homes and see their poster on the wall. “It’s our sensibilities that are in our posters and creations, and we have always had the desire to offer art that is accessible, so that means a lot to us,” concludes Mélody.
