Antonio Aricò
Antonio Aricò is one of the best young designers in Europe and, more importantly, he is a good friend of mine.
Antonio came to me about a coffee table book that would bring together the collection of his works. As he is a big fan of my style, he wanted me to create his catalogue.
Competencies
Book Design
Content Hierarchy
Illustrations
The Project. The Story.
The Protagonists
Antonio Aricò and I have been friends since our student days at the Politecnico of Milan. Splitting his time, between Milan (where he opened a studio/showroom in 2011) and Reggio, where he was born and raised, Antonio works on personal limited-edition collections and collaborations with known Italian brands such as Barilla Group, Dolce & Gabbana, Seletti, Alessi and Bialetti.
From his first limited-edition collection ‘Back Home’ in 2012, Antonio’s work had a special focus on the relationship between art and design with a particular attention to Italian artisanal history.
The Plot
As Antonio is very close to his family, roots and culture, his designs are mostly created with the help of his grandfather, nonno Saverio.
Focused and rigorous in his design approach yet spontaneous and giddy in his work relations, Antonio contacted me to create a simple, conceptual booklet that included part of the work he did in Calabria with the help of his nonno.
During our visual research, we focused on “Antonio’s way of thinking” when he designs. His projects are original and out-of-the-box, and the method he uses is defiantly simple: be like a child looking around with new, amazed eyes.
This simplicity comes across in his use of basic, rough shapes adorned in primary colours that alternate with or overlap product images.
Pages are primarily white and clean, allowing the products to appear as if suspended in space; sometimes they are shown interacting with other elements.
The catalogue of 16 pages was ideally sized (170cmx240cm), giving us space to work with grids and creatively arrange our ideas. All booklets were hand-numbered, emphasising their exclusivity.
The Result
My work with Antonio is always a process of discovering and reinventing what communication and graphic design is.
Most of the projects featured in the catalogue are currently on exhibit in important design museums all over the globe.
