Music with the instruments of design
In 1993, when asked to work with the Amici della Musica, it was my chance to bring together the two things I loved most, classical music and graphic design.
The Amici della Musica brought superior classical musicians like Arthur Rubinstein, Wilhelm Kempff, and Emil Gilels to our city. Having attended the organization’s many concerts since the age of nine, I had developed a true affection for the composers and the talented interpreters, who graced the stage. To be able to utilize my graphic designs to depict this caliber of classical music was an opportunity to push my work to a new level.
Over the course of our four-year partnership, I was never daunted by the small budgets, but used this limitation to explore the possibilities offered by a palette of very few colors. It was a time where I constantly challenged myself and became more confident with breaking the rules of the common layout. I began using typefaces as graphic objects with interesting shapes. I worked to draw parallels and create harmony between my designs and the music I was celebrating. Using images as instruments and typefaces as notes, I strived to echo the sounds.
The 20-page “Cronache Musicali”, was a monthly magazine distributed to subscribers, which I designed for three years. It was with this magazine that I developed the idea of “theme”. I associated a keyword in a type design with an image, titles, summary, and concert details to build the unusual layout of the pages. At that time for instance, breaking the words was a strong departure from the common layout, yet was well received by the Amici Della Musica and its patrons.
The partnership marked a very prolific time for me, and ended only because I had made the decision to come to the United States.
