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The cover of a dark purple book features bold, overlapping typography. The words “MADE IN ITALY” appear three times in white, orange and pink.

SEA's new books showcase the untapped world of post-war Italian graphic design

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Date
26 May 2015

Europe has a fine graphic design tradition but certain countries – Switzerland, The Netherlands, and the UK – tend to predominate when it comes to coverage. And so we’re always keen to hear about initiatives that celebrate lesser known design scenes, such as SEA and Fedrigoni’s upcoming exploration of Italy’s graphics heritage. Made In Italy showcases post-war Italian graphic design by way of a show in east London and a series of monographs focussing on some of the most interesting practitioners – Ilio Negri, Heinz Waibl, Franco Grignani and Giancarlo Iliprandi. With amazing access to the Aiap archives in Milan, SEA has also put together a book for the show with the explicit aim of putting this “untapped” subject firmly in the spotlight.

An open book shows two black and white graphic posters. The left page features a fluid, organic shape made of swirling lines with text that reads “Alfieri & Lacroix tipolitozincografia in Milano”. The right page shows a geometric, 3D-effect shape composed of parallel lines, with smaller text in the bottom right corner.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book shows a double-page spread. The left page is a solid pale pink with a block of small white text, while the right page features a colourful geometric pattern of the word “AMORE” repeated four times.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays a collection of vintage Italian book covers. The designs feature bold colours and minimalist illustrations, with titles including “Un gatto che abbaia” and “Sterpacuore”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays a series of graphic posters with a dark grey background. The designs feature bold, concentric rainbow arcs and the logo “DH”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open magazine spread featuring a bold, colourful layout. The right page shows a large, pink lowercase “a” set against a purple and orange background with the headline “L’ACCIAIO INOSSIDABILE”. The left page is a solid pink gradient with small blocks of white text.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

A double-page spread from a book showing a grid of bold, black lowercase and uppercase letters. Some characters are overlaid with colourful geometric shapes and technical construction lines.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

A stack of three brochures in orange, pink and grey. The top brochure reads “Giancarlo Iiprandi” and “Made in Italy Design Series”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open magazine spread featuring a series of minimalist, all-white kitchen interiors. On the left, two photos show a clean kitchen space, one of which features a person lying across a counter.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays graphic design work. The left page shows three yellow and grey album covers reading “Canti della Resistenza Italiana”, while the right page features a poster of a red heart emerging from a green envelope.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book shows a series of graphic posters on a black background. One page features a white skull and crossbones outlined by a vibrant rainbow gradient. The opposite page displays three similar rainbow-outlined shapes: a cloud, a jagged starburst and a lightning bolt.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open magazine spread featuring six photographs of people lounging in various modern chairs and sofas. Each image is topped with the Italian phrase “sediamoci, ogni tanto”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An illustration of a white skull and crossbones with two large black eyes. The figure is framed by concentric, rainbow-coloured bands against a black background.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open booklet with a bright orange left page and a white right page. The white page features the name “Franco Grignani” in large, thin capitals above a short biographical text.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays a collection of mid-century graphic design. One page shows a person on a ladder painting colourful vertical stripes, while the opposite page features a silhouette of a weightlifter and a series of small, abstract figures.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays two pages of graphic design. The left page features a black zig-zagging geometric shape, while the right page shows a distorted, organic black and white pattern alongside Italian text.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

A black and white poster featuring a bold, geometric shape made of parallel white lines. The lines bend and fold to create a 3D effect against a black background. Text in the top left reads “L’occhio non vede” and “Volumetrie a lettura mentale di Franco Grignani”. Below this, it lists “Galleria San Fedele, Milano marzo 1971”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays two contrasting posters. The left page shows a black poster with white text reading “La nuova tendenza” above a grid of semi-circle shapes. The right page features a vibrant rainbow gradient background with bold white text reading “TRANSPOSTERS di CONTENOTTE”.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

An open book displays two black and white graphic posters. The left page features a warped, ribbon-like shape of lines and reads “Franco Grignani alla galleria l’Elefante”. The right page shows a series of vertical, tapering black bars.
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SEA/Fedrigoni: Made In Italy

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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