In this episode of the Better Future Spotlight, our Founder and CEO Mark Bergin talks to President of Mucca Design, Matteo Bologna. Through typography, Matteo and Mark explore the importance of identity and finding a brand's unique voice. Matteo is a master of the art of passionate Italian storytelling and in this conversation, he distills complex ideas and questions about design into digestible and interesting narratives.
References:
Paola Antonelli - ‘Design has been misconstrued as decoration’ with Anthony Burke, The Conversation 2013
Quotes:
From Matteo
“Having a typeface that has been designed specifically for your own company and that is owned by you is like having your own voice” 0:5:05
“A typeface is one of the best investments a company can make” 0:10:47
If the colour we have chosen for your brand makes you uncomfortable then it is probably good because it means that nobody else is using it, and that helps to define yourself” 0:13:35
“We are bombarded everyday by decision… these micro decisions make our daily lives very complex and the job of a designer is to facilitate the answers to these decicions so they seem natural to the audience” 0:16:30
“The best companies that are investing in design are those who are aware of the need to be uncomfortable when they make a choice…. Making comfortable choices means you are up to your neck in the past and are afraid of moving to the next, it's like being stuck in molasses... If it makes you uncomfortable and makes you rethink the process then that is the reinvestment, for yourself and your customers” 0:27:08
“If the client doesn’t understand that being uncomfortable is what is going to make them successful then they will never go through with the best design” 0:28:05
“You need to sit with the client and go with them slowly to the pace that is uncomfortable and reassure them that the place you are going will help them be successful” 0:29:19
“If you think about the main theme of a film, it is kind of like their logo, and the particular instrument that plays the music is kind of like the typeface, which then gets repeated throughout the film in different ways...The theme gets played with different typefaces but at the end, it returns to the main typography and you see that all the types are part of the same family” 0:36:14
“It's a really good practice to ask yourself “how skinny can I go with this idea and still maintain its strength?”” 0:43:44
From Mark
”Life is about what is next... museums are about what has past and design is about what is next” 0:25:32
“The designer is trying to invest in a future culture of what is next” 0:26:36
“It’s not about breaking through, it’s about bringing-along” 0:34:43
“A great designer takes you into the unknown and uncomfortable, and they help resolve future problems for your customers that appear elegant but are never simple” 0:32:32
“Simplicity is an appearance behind immense complexity” 0:35:12
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