A Forest of Posters

For the 100th anniversary of the birth of Achille Castiglioni (1918–2002)—one of the pioneers of Italian design—the m.a.x. museum of Chiasso organised ‘Achille Castiglioni Visionario,’ an exhibition dedicated to the 484 exhibition design projects that Castiglioni developed during his career.

Migliore+Servetto Architects and Italo Lupi, who designed and curated the exhibition, invited 22 world-famous graphic designers to contribute with a poster celebrating Castiglioni and his exhibition designs.

Among the designers who participated there are some of the most acclaimed graphic artists and designers on the international scene—one for all, Milton Glaser, the author of the iconic I Love NY trademark.

During the exhibition, the posters were displayed on the plaza right in front of the museum, according to an arrangement that was called the ‘Forest of Posters.’

The Design Process

The design of the poster has been developed with great enthusiasm and dedication. In just a few days more than 130 solutions have been designed, after which a total of 486 variations have been produced.

Most of the posters developed communicates the idea of space through the use of perspective typography. By reducing both graphic elements and colours to the essential ones, it was possible to produce a series of posters characterised by a strong visual impact.

In fact, the purpose was not to represent one of Castiglioni’s exhibition design in particular, but to evoke the basic characteristics of all his exhibition designs, i.e. space, light, shadow, typography and colour.

The Final Poster

The final poster not only evokes the essential qualities of Castiglioni’s exhibit design, but also recalls two of the most spectacular set-ups designed by Castiglioni together with his brother Pier Giacomo—the great staircase of 1958’s ENI Pavilion and the parallelepipeds of 1965’s RAI Pavilion.

The graphics of the poster is the product of a calibrated use of geometry that allowed to evoke the two set-ups in an original and inventive way, without tracing their exact shapes.

All the graphic composition is structured on an isometric grid that was purposely designed for this project, after which the letters have been shaped. Starting from the same grid, a few versions of the poster have been prepared and then it was chosen the one providing greater legibility.

A Master’s Signature

Originally designed in black and white, the poster was completed by a simple but relevant contribution offered by graphic design master Italo Lupi—the yellow T, a colour signature that adds a warmer and positive feeeling to the poster by introducing an unexpected visual element.

After been exhibited at the m.a.x. museum of Chiasso, Switzerland, in 2020 the poster was also displayed at the Hangaram Art Museum of the Seoul Arts Center (SAC) as part of the exhibition ‘Achille Castiglioni & Brothers.’

—Nicola-Matteo Munari