Bravas Graphix are the rave connoisseurs behind some of Brussels’ most explosive posters

There’s semantic lore behind Bravas Graphix, a Brussels-based design duo composed of Paul Peyrolle and Jules Rousselet, who describe themselves as the “two protagonists” behind the mini-studio. Bravas comes from dialect local to Sommières, a village where the duo are from, and it means brave or kind. In Languedocian slang, it also refers to bulls that are wild and untamed. Essentially: they’re simultaneously soft and edgy – and their logo, a “bouquet” of pretty sticks of dynamite, speaks for itself.

The duo’s love for the ‘bloghouse’ genre as young ‘fluokids’ motivated their common musical and visual preferences, and they began creating everything from fanzines to tote bags as teenagers. “We’re constantly striving to strike a balance between work that respects academic rules of composition, established visual codes and good readability, with something more spontaneous, adventurous, playful, even naive,” says Paul. “We’re increasingly trying not to be show-offs, to highlight our clients’ projects rather than our own eye-catching style. But this isn't always easy, because many clients come to us precisely for ‘the Bravas style’ – full of colours and splashes, something punk and explosive.”

Crafting and bootlegging are the central focus in the work published under Bravas Graphix. Physical tinkering with cutting, pasting, acetone transfers, photocopying and scanning objects add to the analogue grain, which the duo uses to combat an “age of Canva templates and automated tools”. On the bootleg side of things, their posters feature common bootlegging icons, such as the ‘pissing Calvin’ seen on so many car bumpers. Archival flowers and coins, coffee stains, stickers of Smurfs and Mickey Mouse and sequin patterns fall across every page like a rave song threw-up on the poster. Everything about Bravas Graphix’s style is loud, from radioactive greens to distinctly digital, kitschy gradients. It’s work is a reminder that rave aesthetics have always been about remixing, quoting or borrowing – anti-corporate and outside of academic tastes, and proudly so.