A window dedicated to projects carried out by young Italian designers under 30, innovative, experimental and characterized by stylistic and language contamination. The exhibition is the result of a call conceived by Graphic Days® which has selected 100 works within 4 catagories: Motion Graphic, Poster Design, Editorial Design and GIF.

The project was born in 2021 with the aim of enhancing young Italian talents in the world of visual design today, promoting new language and experiments in visual communication. It continues this year with the second edition: in addition to the physical exhibition of the 100 winning projects, the call also makes it possible to enrich the online dynamic observatory which collects all the most deserving proposals with the aim of promoting the quality and research of the original in the visual world in Italy.

The concept of “Italianness” is not defined by geopolitical borders, but in the sense of belonging. The new Italian expressions, characterized by contamination between different disciplines, between digital and analog, do not arise only from those born in Italy, but also from those who have assimilated Italian culture: the concept to be promoted is therefore not merely linked to citizenship, place of birth or residence, but rather to the bond that is created with a culture and its territory.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

Fluo – Lit up Books is an exhibition of 130 fluorescent books released in different parts of the world over the last ten years, testifying to one of the most recent, interesting and original trends in children’s publishing. The result of in-depth graphic-art and printing research and experimentation, fluorescent features have now become a structural part of the books they are used in. The exhibition looks at the technical side of fluorescent applications, offering visitors an opportunity to discover new innovative tools and new creative avenues. Many of the books gathered in the exhibition are by acclaimed authors like Oliver Jeffers, Isabelle Arsenault, Shawn Harris, and BB Cronin, to name just a few. Others are by emerging illustrators from around the world, among which Allison Colpys, Young Lee, Sarah Mazzetti, Aurore Petit, Alice Piaggio, Anna Pirolli, Emily Rand, and Marie Tolman.

Presented at the last edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and curated by Accademia Drosselmeier, Fluo Lit Up Books is the first exhibition that inaugurates a new, multimodal approach to the universe of illustrated books, thanks to the collaboration with a broad community of authors, artists, publishers, printers, historians of illustration, and critics.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

If children’s books are illustrated by definition, the significant use of illustrations in magazines for children is far more recent and still represents the distinctive traits of those publishing houses that have decided to go for this visual form of communication. This exhibition gathers a selection of international magazines –  Uppa, Anorak and Dot, Georges and Graou, Revista Kiwi – and aims to highlight the added value of illustration in entertaining, informing and training children and their parents.

All these magazines have the aim of introducing kids and adults to culture, educating them through reading, playing and creativity. Some of these explore all aspects of a child’s life, from school to family, including science, travel, hobbies and leisure time. Others talk openly about topics that are still too often taboo, with humorism and cheerfulness, while others deal with more pedagogical and growth-related aspects.

Illustrations to amaze, quality printing, and a selection of content to entertain: masterfully bringing together the work of studios and art directors, illustrators and industry professionals, these publications encourage and at the same time surprise the reader, satisfying the natural curiosity of children and awakening it in adults.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

In continuity with the last edition’s exhibition We Mix Design and People, Graphic Days® proposes a new selection of social design projects in which visual communication is called to stimulate interest, debate and action towards the main social issues, addressed – here the novelty element – adopting children’s perspective and imagination.

As Munari noted, the society of the future is already among us and we can see it in children. It is therefore ever more necessary that issues of collective interest such as inclusion, migration, accessibility, conflicts or environmental emergency, far from being “adult issues”, are faced with the spontaneity, vulnerability, absence of preconceptions and curiosity of the little ones. That leads to the adoption of a simple and direct language, as well as to the use of tales, avatars or games as reflection and learning tools, all of which better appeal to the adults themselves. Comparing very different projects by client, cultural background and output type, this exhibition aims to express the potential of social design when it is specifically addressed to kids as well as when it just reflects their playful wisdom.

On display Corraini Edizioni, Ki Saigon, Enric Pérez Vercher, Studio Bang-Gu, Premio Ronzinante, Edoardo Albertini, Nina Krause, Enrico Lanza, Elisa Nalon, Tuo Museo.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

Shapes, colours and monograms to wear: clothing is one of the main forms of visual communication of modern society. After all, graphic design is about brand identity as fashion design is about personal identity. From pattern to dress, Rogers would say, both graphic and fashion designers’ core ability is to translate values and messages in visual and material terms, the additional challenge for the latter being the use of a living and always different medium: the human body. The result is a “humanly” generative communication, in which the same garment assumes an almost unique meaning depending on the different forms, colours, postures, gestures and intentions of the body it dresses up. At the same time, what we wear has a very strong impact on how we feel and behave, and therefore on what we communicate to ourselves and others.

Therefore, if both designing and wearing fashion items are ways to communicate, what shapes and colours could adults wear to awaken their inner child? What images to “give body” in order to represent the demands of the new generations? Starting from these questions and within the theme of the festival, this exhibition aims at investigating what fashion design can tell children and about children.

On show the works of LĀU Clothing, Face This and the lenticular projects of Antoine Peters.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

When paper stops being the mere support base of brushstrokes to itself become an expressive sign, illustrations turn into geometric compositions or pop up as three-dimensional subjects giving life to colourful animals and playful faces: meet the fascinating world of Angelica Gerosa, Italian illustrator and paper designer with a strongly passion for combining colours and shapes and a special attention to the relationship between full and empty spaces. Inspired by the artists of Bauhaus (especially Kandinsky), Matisse, Italian Futurism, Picasso, folk culture and ancient cultures, and strongly drawing from Rauschenberg’s Combine-paintings, her creative process is centred on an analog, free and typically slow experimentation involving different materials and techniques. This exhibition aims at giving a sense of her mastery in paper processing, applied to a never ending and patient quest for a balance in multi-material compositions. Through expanses of kaleidoscopic collages, admire her “hunting trophies of imagination”, the tribal-like masks and enjoy her colourful paper bestiary so as to discover what happens when paper is understood as a (multicolor) canvas to be not filled but folded, cut and modelled.

The participation to the workshop is free. The entrance to Cavallerizza requires a ticket of 8 euros, free access to kids.

La partecipazione al workshop è gratuita. L’ingresso alla Cavallerizza richiede il pagamento del biglietto di ingresso di 8 euro, gratuito per i bambini.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

Combining the lightness of childish doodles with immaculate composition, the polish graphic artist Ola Niepsuj is renowned for her playful and elegant style which is a perfect antidote for the all-too-recent isolation of the pandemic. This exhibition aims to unveil her trademark sense of humor, finesse and charm, showcasing a collection of many original drawings and collages from her archive, as well as entirely new three collections of works. Summer in the city, seems to refer directly to just that – focusing on the small urban pleasures of her daily life in Warsaw, extracting the polychromatic exuberance and joie de vivre out of the tiniest mundane details. Inspired by the masters of Polish poster design and illustration of the 1960s, Ola Niepsuj combines the analogue techniques of ink drawings, cutouts and pencil typography with digital design. Her rich textures and attention to detail always serve the higher purpose of her self-admitted “search for humor and ambiguity.” This approach is still clearly visible – or maybe even more pronounced – when she strips her palette to a bare minimum in the black-and-white Matisse-esque cutouts of the Object Salon series. In contrast, her third collection at the exhibition – Outdoor club –  dedicated to ball games, is naively colorful, evoking the simplicity and joy of Niepsuj’s early years, radiating a childlike sense of wonder and innocence.

Timetables:
Opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

As with all self-respecting toy designers, what’s playful in Luca Boscardin’s designs is not just the output but the whole creative process. Among his major references is the inevitable Munari, from whom he inherits the awareness that playing is a serious thing, and that the little ones are the true Masters to take inspiration from.

Indeed, Boscardini’s work is constantly informed by children’s ability to give free rein to their imagination and by the way of communicating, based on simple and universal signs. He starts all his projects with an illustration, typically made of  simple and minimal strokes, which often get transformed into a three-dimensional product. He pursues the philosophy of Less – shapes and lines – is More – space for the imagination of children and adults. Animals are a recurring subject of his poetry.

He has made many of them different by materials, context of use and kind of interaction. This exhibition will let you meet them all: rocking ones (Cavalcade), flying ones (Mobile Birds), mix-and-matchable ones (Domino of Fantastic Creatures), walkable ones (Sensory Rug), and even life-size, climbable ones (Animal Factory)! But the natural world is not the only playground for Boscardin’s imagination. His curiosity extends to the city and its inhabitants, which he likes to render as ever-changing “visual 3D puzzles”, as in the case of Archiville and Wooden SculptureS.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

What is the boundary between design and magic? Since 2015 the duo Pinaffo — Pluvinage makes hypnotizing installations addressing complex conceptual topics through playful and ingenious solutions. Working as surprising learning devices, each of their work aims at investigating a certain invisible system, using art and design to reveal its impalpable actualities so as to make their understanding accessible to all. Their strong graphic sense,  manual ability and interdisciplinary approach, challenged by the use of simple and economical components, results in a distinctive visual and interactive language that speaks to everyone’s curiosity. The exhibition is a wunderkammer of all their projects – Jelly Safari, Papier Machine, Château d’eau, Île à gratter, Code set, and many others – each of them flirting with the audience’s attention before letting them familiarize with the logic behind computer code and algorithms, the mechanisms of touchscreens and pushbuttons, the magic of intelligent materials.

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

People are born creative, they don’t become one – if anything, the more we grow up the less we tend to exercise our creativity. In fact, children, free from preconceptions because having a limited knowledge of the world, are the most open to new experiences and experiments. True experts of lightness, wonder and spontaneity, by relating to their extremely imaginative and fluid mindset adults can rediscover the ability to overcome obstacles and look beyond the appearance of things. Putting the new generations at the center means embarking on a path of growth, turning our gaze to the future and working for a greater social and environmental integrity.

The visual identity of the festival is a graphic and abstract translation of all these themes. Presenting itself as a three-dimensional and generative reinterpretation of the tangram, it exasperates its shapes and melts its colors, playing with the overlapping of textures, so as to convey a message of growth, change and multiplicity of points of view. Born as a digital language, the generative potential of visual art is also explored in analog terms through the use of different techniques – from screen printing to engraving, to the creation of fabrics, starting from the experience of Print Club Torino. The result is an immersive and multisensory physical space populated by a series of unique works, physical and digital, available in the art market as NFT.

In an attempt to connect the world of visual design with the universe of children, so as to stimulate the child in every designer to adopt an attitude of constant experimentation, facing the crypto art world was paramount. As the true “child” of contemporary visual culture – both for its recent development and for its intrinsically experimental, unpredictable and dynamic character – the exhibition offers a taste of it through a selection of works by major international NFT artists: Aeforia (Alexy Préfontaine), Anna Lucia, Baugasm (Vasjen Katro), Carlos de Andrade, Cassiopeus (Lubos Oravec), Fabiano Speziari, Gabriele Calvi, Johana Kroft, Lele Gastini, Liam Pitchford, Lip Comarella, Marco Mori, Matteo Mauro, Mattia Cuttini, 0xma (Olivier Mattia), Paola Pinna, Thomas Lin Pedersen, Vincent Schwenk, wwatkns (William Watkins).

Timetables:
opening 23 September 6.00-11.00 pm
Monday-Friday 4.00-8.00 pm
Saturday-Sunday 10.00 am-8.00 pm
1st October 10.00am-11.00 pm

For two decades Cas Holman has been designing play products and experiences that encourage exploration, imagination, and collaboration. Cas is the founder and principal designer at Heroes Will Rise, an independent toy company producing the award-winning Rigamajig building kits used in schools and public spaces around the world.

For the first time in Italy, this exhibition features original artwork, process sketches, scale models, and prototypes that give insight into Cas’s highly iterative, hands-on creative process. Technical practices are repeated over and over toward the path to product. Holman never assumes things are as they need to be – which is why her design process showcases the complex breaking down and rebuilding process of design.

Cas’s sketches may look messy, some almost indecipherable scribbles. When she’s sketching, her hand and brain are working together to imagine new ideas and variations. The sketches are not meant to communicate an idea, but to generate new ideas and help Cas visualize or understand what a design might become, or how it might work.

The prototypes, sketch models, and scale models are three-dimensional pieces meant to “figure out” how something works in relation to a child’s hands, body, or in most cases shown here, with the other pieces in the Rigamajig building system. They are made with readily available materials Cas keeps in her studio and often quickly assembled with cardboard, glue, tape, and the occasional 3D printed or laser-cut part when accuracy is needed. Included in the process, these prototypes are always played with and often given to children for “play-testing”. The most important part of Cas’s design process is play-testing and feedback from children.

Designed by Cas Holman.