The Aspen Institute Italia

‘Storia di un dialogo’ (History of a Dialogue) was the first project designed together with Italo Lupi—one of the most important Italian graphic designers—as part of a close collaboration that continued for some years.

The book narrates the history of the Aspen Institute Italia, a non-profit organization focusing on the political-entrepreneurial promotion of transatlantic cultural relations, which boasts in its executive board some of the most renowned Italian politicians, entrepreneurs, jurists, economists, journalists, and academics.

During the very first day of work on the book’s project, more than one hundred covers have been designed, all different from each other. Finally, one of the most restrained and institutional was chosen, characterised by a simple but carefully calibrated typographic layout.

The Book Cover

The title—made of a single word for each line of text, all stacked one on top of the other—is the protagonist of the cover, whose extension is marked at the top by a blue typographic ruler and at the bottom by the Aspen leaf, designed in its original shape by famous Austrian graphic designer Herbert Bayer (1900–1985).

Colours and typefaces are those already used for the magazine Aspenia, published by the Aspen Institute Italia. Colours refer to red and blue of the Stars and Stripes flag, while the typefaces suggest the idea of an Atlanticist dialogue, coming from both Italian (Bodoni) and American (News Gothic) tradition.

The proportional relationships between the three elements—ruler, title, and leaf—have been orchestrated with dedication, so that each one participates in the composition of a measured and perfectly balanced layout.

The Dialogue of Letters

The graphic design, careful and simple, ensures that the cover essentially remains a blank page, thus emphasising the aesthetic and cultural beauty of the typographic letters as a means of communication—the literal foundation of dialogue.

—Nicola-Matteo Munari