Extinction, Adaptation, Exploration and Coexistence

Four Interviews on the Role of Technological Innovation in Italian Graphic Design

Abstract

The introduction of phototypesetting in the 1960s and the rise of personal computers in the 1980s transformed the theoretical, conceptual and operational aspects of the graphic design profession: they altered the design process and the relative production chain, as well as the designers’ ability to imagine and represent the future. Furthermore, these technological innovations also influenced the aesthetics and style of graphic design. The accounts of four professionals who experienced that transformation – Italo Lupi, Roberto Pieracini, Patrizia Convertino and Silvia Sfligiotti – offer different perspectives on the impact of the new design and production techniques, in terms of their own personal practice and with regard to the contemporary Italian scene in general. The four interviews presented in the article focus on the contribution of graphic design technologies to the evolution of the profession in Italy, highlighting assimilations, differences, juxtapositions and experiments.