Background

Founded by industrial designer Benoît Mintiens in 2010, Ressence set out with a bold mission: to rethink the mechanical watch from the ground up, starting with the user’s experience. Over 15 years of relentless exploration, Ressence has simplified complex engineering through intuitive design, creating watches that don't just tell time, they redefine how we perceive and experience it.

Challenge

As the brand evolved, so did its need for a clearer narrative, stronger visual cohesion, and a more expressive way to articulate its identity across touchpoints. With the arrival of Brand Director Simon Hadjidimoff, Ressence entered a new phase of brand reinforcement, beginning with the definition of its foundations, visual identity, and formal language. During this strategic evolution, he entrusted us with the task of bringing greater coherence to the brand’s communication ecosystem.

Strategic Idea

Through workshops, research, and editorial development, we explored Ressence not simply as a watch company, but as an expression of essentialism. At the centre of this reflection sat a belief that innovation can create greater clarity, presence, and room for what matters. Less noise. More attention. More meaningful interactions with objects, people, ideas, and the world around us. This perspective brought new coherence to the brand’s expressions. The name Ressence itself, a contraction of “renaissance” and “essence”, became a valuable lens through which to interpret the brand. Ideas of renewal, springtime, lightness, clarity, and quiet sophistication informed the development of visual, editorial, and communication systems.

Our Approach

In collaboration with the Brand Director, we refined the brand’s values and personas, and co-developed internal lifestyle photoshoot guidelines and the “Ressence Man” visual identity, detailing tones, textures, and cuts for future productions. We authored a tone of voice guide built around four principles, with signature phrases, lexicon, linguistic tools, and guidelines for both human teams and AI models. In parallel, we supported product launches and editorial initiatives through art direction and narrative work. We introduced the practice of product teasers and co-directed five watch launch campaigns. We contributed to Ressence’s editorial output by authoring “Arts & Crafts in Motion”, contributing to the text-led “Bold Statements” campaign, shaping a more narrative approach to press releases, editing the 2023 and 2025 Catalogues Raisonnés, and shaping interviews for Meaningful Encounters, including those with architect Daniel Libeskind and artist Shantell Martin.