An Absolute Premiere

Touch Down Unit is a product catalogue that was designed for Molteni&C and UniFor, two Italian companies working respectively in the field of high-end home furniture and in the development of workspaces designed in collaboration with some of the most important architects in the world.

The catalogue was the first ever to be jointly published by the two companies belonging to Molteni Group, one of the leading and most respected international furniture groups, established in 1934 and also including Dada, Citterio, and the brand Armani/Dada.

TDU

The catalogue illustrates the homonymous workstation designed by the two founders of Studio Klass, Marco Maturo and Alessio Roscini, who also operate as art directors of UniFor since 2020.

Characterised by an extreme flexibility, thanks to its multiple configurations, Touch Down Unit was originally conceived as a mobile workstation for high-end office environments.

Enriched by a palette of elegant finishes and noble materials, such as Canaletto walnut and hide leather, the workstation also proved to be an original and effective solution to the smart working conditions imposed by the COVID pandemic.

The Cover

The cover of the catalogue enhances the monochrome tone of the grey paper, that was left almost plain in order to recall the shades and materials of the workstation.

The main characterisation consists of a light transparent coating that wraps the back of the catalogue, forming the three initial letters of Touch Down Unit (TDU).

Printed directly on the uncoated paper, the transparent ink has been carefully partitioned in order to highlight the creasing and the spine. In this way, a visual and tactile contrast was generated between the rough softness of the paper and the luminous plasticity of the glossy coating.

The three letters appear and disappear as the light passes over the paper, transforming typography into an almost impalpable sculpture of light.

A Hidden Text

While opening the catalogue a text coming from the inside of the cover flows on the title page. The introduction is hidden inside the cover flaps, extending over the binding. The same layout solution has been adopted on the last page and the inside of the back cover.

In this way, the reader is invited to experiment an unexpected interaction with the catalogue by unfolding the flaps, evoking the variety of configuration movements that is typical to Touch Down Unit workstation.

The layout of the texts over the binding involved an extremely high technical complexity both in the design and printing process, resolved by spacing the letters with absolute precision, so that the lines and the letters result in a perfect visual continuity.

Through this solution, the cover is no longer a simple external protection to the catalogue but an integral part, inviting to both read it and interact with it.

The Layout

Contents in the catalogue have been arranged according to a three orders sequence, recalling the three different contexts of use of the workstation—office, home, public spaces.

A complex structural grid has been purposely designed in order to produce a layout characterised by both asymmetry and articulation, thus evocating the product’s flexibility.

The outcome is an articulated and elegant layout, whose proportions have been carefully calibrated on the contrasts full/empty, large/small, horizontal/vertical.

Accuracy and Elegance

From the solution developed for the cover to the layout of the colour swatches, from the variety of papers to the print finishing, from the articulated structural grid to the compositional proportions of the layout, each element of the catalogue has been enhanced down to the smallest detail through a calibrated design choice.

Graphic rigour, compositional accuracy, and measured elegance characterise a catalogue that has been designed in a tailored way, representing both the two companies in a balanced way and the dynamic flexibility of Touch Down Unit workstation.

—Nicola-Matteo Munari