As we approach Milan Design Week, I feel like talking about a project I started working on a few years ago and which, year after year, I continue to enrich and evolve. MDF Contract is particularly close to my heart, not so much because of the project itself, but also because it symbolises a significant collaboration and binds me to dear people.
Way back in the early days of my career, I rented a desk in Balerna, in the south of Switzerland, at the graphic design studio CCRZ. I look back on those years with affection and nostalgia.
I used to frequent the studio to avoid working alone at home and found the environment extremely stimulating. In Ticino, the guys at the studio were an important reference point, which inspired me deeply. Although I was an external figure, I gradually started to collaborate with them. In particular, I had the pleasure of working closely with Paolo Cavalli, one of the founders, who, often unconsciously, passed on to me precious notions of architecture, graphics and interior design. That period had a decisive impact on my practice today, forming a solid starting point.
Immersed in an environment full of design objects and rare books, I was able to absorb the flavour of Swiss (and other) design by leafing through countless books countless times. My knowledge of Swiss and Italian design owes much to those walls in Balerna, in those years so close to the end of university.
MDF is initially a client of CCRZ, but as their studio has always been mainly focused on print I was asked to work on the digital part, i.e. the design and code of the website (of their contract section not the main website)
I am particularly proud of the MDF contract website, a project that reflects my great passions: graphics, architecture, respect for rules and object design. Despite the time that has passed, I still look at it fondly, and I always enjoy it, which is certainly a good sign.
The website is a modular solution, developed with NUXT and Vercel, which is fully manageable by the customer.
In addition to the project itself, I wanted to share the memory of my collaboration with Paolo, a presence I have missed since I moved to Zurich. Currently, given my intense activity with UNSTATED, I find it difficult to keep this collaborative bond alive, which I imagine is also complicated for them, now that I am no longer a young freelancer.
During my years in South Ticino, I was lucky enough to meet wonderful people, whom I often remember with affection: a salute to Ruffini, Alfio, Andren, Daiana, Cassino and Castiglioni!