Founding a studio among friends with the same objectives, values, and tastes

Although your studio was recently founded (in 2021, editor's note), you have been collaborating together since 2018. What drove you to take this step and merge your activities? If so, could you describe the process you followed to reach this decision?

[Andrea] It was a natural choice, but not impulsive. As you mentioned, we had been working together for several years on individual projects. At that time, Michele was the one who had more projects and tended to involve people a lot (and I was happy to collaborate). Giulia worked for other studios and in the non-profit sector, and parallelly we had projects that we carried out together. However, we thought about it a lot, the idea lingered in the air for at least a year. In the end, we found a new, beautiful, and stimulating project, suitable for testing an official collaboration among all three of us. It went very well, and everything else fell into place. We put our goals and ambitions on the table so that we could start with a common and shared idea and have solid foundations. We asked ourselves all those questions whose answers were better defined from the beginning, from the most existential ones to the details. What kind of studio do we want to be? Who does what? What are our working hours? How do we find clients? How much do we want to earn? What do we call ourselves? And so on. Clearly, there is a lot of harmony both on a human level and, simply, in terms of tastes. In addition to this, to be more pragmatic, we have complementary skills thanks to which we are able to cover our clients' needs 360 degrees (as far as communication is concerned!). This latter point was certainly one of the factors that quickly grew the studio in these two years.

The studio is composed of Andrea and Michele, who are more focused on branding and editorial design, but then there's Giulia, who instead has a more web developer vein, as well as being a visual designer. How does the interaction between these two worlds occur in your work? And how does the exchange and mutual influence between you take place?

[Andrea] As mentioned before, we have complementary skills, but I wouldn't want the message to be that Giulia only does web, I do editorial, and Michele does branding. All three of us are designers who have studied graphic design and worked in studios where we did a bit of everything. So, for example, if a branding project comes in, we all work on it in the same way, just as all three of us are able to design a book (and do it well too!). Then, each of us, out of interest, necessity, or even by chance, has deepened specific areas.

Michele, thanks to the competition he won in 2014 on Bologna city branding (together with Matteo Bartoli), has developed strong skills in territorial identity and working with public bodies (not by chance we won the competition for the identity of the European Capital of Culture 2025 and recently the competition for the identity of the system of Piedmontese Forts in 2022).

During her years in the Netherlands, Giulia managed to combine visual design with code thanks to a Master's degree and work experiences (including with the badass folks at Harris Blondman Studio) that brought out a strong inclination for experimentation and research, moving away from traditional web logic. This approach, which remains very cool when brought to Italy, But Maybe™, doesn't bring in much revenue, and her pragmatic experience in the non-profit social sector has been useful in adapting it to the beautiful country.

My experiences have led me to deal a lot with publishing, especially during my time in London at Unit Editions / Spin and in Trieste at Tassinari/Vetta. In addition to this, out of curiosity and personal interest, over the years I have delved into the field of motion design, which is now a service we offer in full. Our different backgrounds bring different approaches to problem-solving, thus helping to mitigate subjectivity in the final result. Giulia has a more logical approach and tends to break down and analyze the problem, Michele is more humanistic/philosophical. As for me, I don't know, I put words and images in space and I'm happy.

Currently, your studio focuses strongly on 360-degree branding, but how do you foresee the evolution of your projects in the coming years? Do you envision a possible transition towards a greater focus on the digital realm?

[Andrea] Actually, at the moment our studio focuses on everything that requires communication design. Sometimes we wonder if the lack of a sectoral focus could become a problem, but the truth is that we enjoy ourselves and things are going very well. At the moment, for example, the projects we are working on range from branding to publishing, from motion to web, from exhibition to social media. Our client base is also very diverse: public bodies, private companies, culture, healthcare, non-profits, tourism, food, environment, and much more. It's a real stroke of luck for us because the stimuli are always different, and we never get bored. Additionally, it's generally rare for a branding or visual identity project to end with the creation of a manual: usually, we are asked to continue with communication and tend to accompany the evolution of the client itself (in fact, we also handle strategy). In the future, we'll see, but at the moment, it seems to me that we're more inclined to expand rather than specialize by sector.

With each of you having different educational experiences and independent work backgrounds, how do you manage the design process when you need to merge your minds to create a unique project? How do you organize or divide tasks, if you do?

[Andrea] Regarding joining our minds, I partly answered before.

As for organization, each project has a single point of contact who manages client relationships, organizes the timeline, and coordinates others. When starting a new project, the initial sketch phase is very free, and we all dive in (it's the most fun moment!). Then we exchange sketches, discuss them, come up with new ideas, delve deeper, discuss again, exchange again, and refine until we arrive at the proposal to present. We try to show everything we produce without filters because, to quote Munari, "from what comes what." Sometimes a winning idea arises from a poor one. A rough sketch can trigger a thought in another person that leads to something interesting. Sometimes the right direction comes at the last moment, sometimes it's the first thing that comes to mind. In addition to new projects, as I mentioned, we also have many ongoing jobs: in this case, the points of contact take care of them more, and if necessary, they distribute tasks based on commitments, skills, or the overall sustainability of the studio.

In the past, there was a common aspiration to join the most renowned graphic studios, while today it seems that many people prefer to start their own studio. What do you think are the main changes that have led to this transformation?

[Andrea] Is there this trend? Honestly, I wouldn't know. Perhaps more than a preference, it's a choice due to the changing job landscape: there are more and more female and male graphic designers, studios are hiring less and less, the concept of work is evolving. I have to say that we receive a lot of requests (I apologize if we can't always respond). I don't know how different it was in the past; when I was in university, my dream was to open a studio or work in one of the studios I admired. I was very fortunate because in the end, I managed to do both.

How do you see the world of design education in Italy?

[Giulia] The landscape is certainly diverse and - we feel we can say - evolving. As teachers, but also as former students with different backgrounds, we undoubtedly recognize a marked difference in approach among universities in the area. The differential parameters mainly concern the heterogeneity of the skills transmitted and the adherence to the contemporary socio-economic fabric.

[Michele] Interdisciplinarity, research, and experimentation; these are the main characteristics of schools that, in our opinion, excel. The didactic training in graphic design must help students understand the importance of research, analysis, and processes. This type of approach teaches critical thinking, not only producing aesthetic results but also effective and functional solutions to the realities of the world we live in.

[Giulia] To achieve this kind of training, it is certainly necessary to go beyond the mere exam-grade binary. This implies a significant change in the mindset of the student, who must be supported not only by the people who teach but also by a collective effort of the university system.

How do you see the role of young graphic designers in Italy?

[Giulia] Let's start from the premise that our vision is certainly biased by the positioning of the studio, around which people with more or less consciously similar visions orbit. In the girls and boys we meet in the classroom or who pass by here, we see a strong need for emancipation, understood above all as a desire to detach themselves from traditional work standards. The graphic profession - like many others - is certainly changing in relation to the socio-political landscape. For example, we see a growing interest in social issues, or a preference for small realities, in a sense independent. From our point of view, this awareness represents a positive sign, but undoubtedly implies the need for our professional figure to become increasingly flexible to be able to respond to the continuously evolving communicative needs of society.

What advice would you give to young graphic designers entering the workforce in Italy today?

[Michele] Firstly, there is a need to build a solid understanding of design methodology basics, including recent software and tools. It's also important to acquire complementary skills that allow working alongside diversified professions, such as web developers or having a basic knowledge of major marketing principles.

The ability to effectively communicate with clients and work in teams is as important as technical skills. We don't believe in being jacks-of-all-trades; instead, we think it's important to adopt a multidisciplinary approach. Being flexible and adaptable is therefore essential, as - as previously mentioned by Giulia - the graphic design landscape is constantly evolving.