“And you’ll choose a robot for the editorial”, Philippe Manœuvre said to me as he placed a pile of docu-ments on my drawing table. It was for the issue 79 bis “Spécial Robot” of Métal Hurlant that came out in September 1982.

That’s how I found out about L’Atelier.

The Robot portfolio, measuring 30 × 40 cm–the same format as the sub-lime Futuropolis collection–reproduced vintage Japanese toy packaging.

I even stole the typography of the title for the cover of the issue of Métal.

My encounter with L’Atelier could have ended there, but at the 1984 Angoulême Festival where I was hang-ing out with Métal Hurlant’s publisher, the Humanoïdes Associés, I met Anne-Marie Dupré who happened to work at L’Atelier... We became friends and she gave me Benito’s portfolio, Chic ou Voyou. Soon afterwards she introduced me to Éric Seydoux and Frédéric de Broutelles.

At the time, L’Atelier was starting to work with a lot of illustrators I knew well (Caro, Max, Kiki Picasso, Loustal, Willem, Yves Chaland…) and others whom I really wanted to get to know (Crumb, Mark Beyer, Pyon, Lydie Arickx, Bob Zoell...).

I regularly went by L’Atelier to pick up Anne-Marie who showed me the projects they were working on. I immediately got along with Éric and Frédéric. The atmo-sphere was laid back and they were all passionate about what they were doing.

I’d been interested in screenprinting for a long time, ever since the revolu-tionary workshop at the Arts appliqués on the rue du Petit-Thouars in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris in May 1968.

At L’Atelier, located on the rue de l’Ab-bé-Carton (a name destined for a print shop), I discovered a much more sophis-ticated approach to screenprinting. One of the many techniques that impressed me was the of layering colors. But since there were techniques and tools that were also used by comic book illustrators, these processes weren’t that far removed from my job as a graphic designer and from the Benday techniques that I’d dis-covered thanks to Yves Chaland.

The years went by, but Éric and I stayed in close touch, and I continued to drop by L’Atelier for openings when he turned his attention to contemporary art. I also saw him at the big art fairs where he always exhibited remarkable editions by artists I admire.

For me, Éric’s work as a printer was that of a seeker, a finder of things that haven’t yet been tried... and anything is possible with screenprinting if you give it enough time, patience and attention to detail. Right, Éric?

Pascal Guichard, January 2025

Graphic designer/Layout artist and Artistic Director for Métal Hurlant and other magazines.