Davide Fornari, Davide Turrini (eds.)
Olivetti Identities
Spaces and Languages 1933–1983
Book design: Federico Barbon
Euro (D) 39.–, Euro (A) 40.–
English edition
400 pages, ca. 230 images
16 x 24 cm, softcover with flaps
Available
ISBN
978-3-03863-060-9
• Premio ADI Index 2023, Milano
• On visual identity and branding at Olivetti
• Examples from showrooms, trade fairs, and world exhibitions
• Cultural activities and advertising measures of a globally unique company
Olivetti’s world-famous typewriters best embody the company’s industrial legacy and visible identity, which was both innovative and complex, material and immaterial. These identities are at the heart of an interdisciplinary research project carried out by ECAL/Ecole cantonale d`art de Lausanne and the Università degli Studi di Ferrara in collaboration with the Association for the Historical Archives of Olivetti in Ivrea.
Olivetti Identities. Spaces and Languages 1933– 1983 presents the results of this research with the aim of analyzing the Olivetti phenomenon as a whole, paying particular attention to the context of corporate evolution and the approaches of designers such as Xanti Schawinsky, Renato Zveteremich, Ettore Sottsass, Hans von Klier, Egidio Bonfante and Walter Ballmer, among others.
The research analyzed the corporate identity journey of Olivetti from the establishment of the Olivetti advertising office in 1933 to the opening of the permanent Olivetti pavilion at the Hanover Fair in 1983, which was intended as the final step in a particularly efficient corporate identity strategy.
The volume is organized in four sections dedicated to the design of showrooms and exhibition design at trade fairs and expos, the analysis of languages that have shaped corporate vocabulary as well as visual communication and interaction design, and cultural and promotional activities, respectively.
A final section summarizes the credentials of designers Santiago Miranda and George Sowden, as well as former Olivetti collaborators in sales and training.
Two visual essays featuring published and previously unpublished documents from the Olivetti historical archives complete the book.
About the Editors
Davide Fornari is associate professor at ECAL/Ecole cantonale d`art de Lausanne and Head of the Applied Research and Development department. He has authored, edited and served as art director for a number of publications on design, including Mapping Graphic Design History in Switzerland, Bianca und Blu Monica Bolzoni (2019), Carlo Scarpa: Casa Zentner a Zurigo (2020).
Davide Turrini is associate professor at the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara, where he teaches design theory and sustainable design. He has conceived and coordinated research projects on Italian product design and craftmanship. His publications include Giuseppe Terragni. Album 1925 (2018), Creativa produzione. La Toscana e il design italiano 1950–1990 (2015).
With contributions by Alessandra Acocella, Chiara Barbieri, Renata
Bazzani Zveteremich, Paolo Bolpagni, Alessandro Brodini, Alessandro
Chili, Graziella Leyla Ciagà, Alessandro Colizzi, Galileo Dallolio,
Elena Dellapiana, Amparo Fernández Otero, Ali Filippini, Caterina
Cristina Fiorentino, Davide Fornari, Lucia Giorgetti, Josefina González
Cubero, Stefania Landi, Lorenzo Mingardi, Elisabetta Mori, Pier Paolo
Peruccio, Paolo Rebaudengo, Raimonda Riccini, Dario Scodeller, Azalea
Seratoni, Daniela Smalzi, Elena Tinacci, Caterina Toschi, Elisabetta Trincherini,
Marcella Turchetti, Davide Turrini, Denise Ulivieri, Carlo Vinti, Stefano Zagnoni
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