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Draft:Piero Ottinetti

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Piero Ottinetti
Born(1927-06-13)June 13, 1927
Caluso, Italy
DiedApril 23, 2018(2018-04-23) (aged 90)
Waukegan, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationsGraphic designer, art director, painter
Years active1954–2015
Known forStudio IPI TRE; corporate identity design; art direction at Kemper Insurance

Piero Ottinetti (June 13, 1927 – April 23, 2018) was an Italian graphic designer, art director, and painter whose career spanned postwar Italy and the United States. He founded Studio IPI TRE in Milan in 1954, where he developed advertising, corporate identity, and visual communication programs for Italian industrial and commercial companies.[1][2]

After emigrating to the United States in 1971, he served as Art Director at Kemper Insurance from 1973 to 1976 before returning to independent graphic design practice.[3][2][4]

Educated in Rome and Milan, Ottinetti studied at the Accademia d'Arte di San Luca and the Scuola della Rinascita, where faculty included Albe Steiner, Max Huber, Luigi Veronesi, Remo Muratore, Hannes Meyer, Mario De Micheli, Gabriele Mucchi, and Alfaro Siqueiros.[5]

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, his work appeared repeatedly in Italian and international design publications, including Domus, 2 Dimensioni, Pubblicità in Italia, Modern Publicity, and International Poster Annual.[6][7][8][9][10]

Ottinetti's work has been documented in independent books, academic publications, documentary films, and institutional archives, including the Fondazione Pirelli Historical Archive and the Catalogo dei Beni Culturali.[1][4][2][11][12]

Early life and education

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Piero Ottinetti was born in 1927 in Caluso, near Turin, Italy. Trained initially as a surveyor, Ottinetti moved to Rome in 1947, where he studied at the Accademia d'Arte di San Luca and attended the professional courses in graphic and advertising arts at the Scuola di Pubblicità Rinascita.[5]

In 1951, he relocated to Milan to continue his studies at the Scuola della Rinascita, where he studied within an educational environment associated with figures including Albe Steiner, Max Huber, Luigi Veronesi, Remo Muratore, Hannes Meyer, Mario De Micheli, Gabriele Mucchi, and Alfaro Siqueiros. He subsequently began his professional career as an assistant in the studios of Remo Muratore and Max Huber. In 1954, Ottinetti established his own graphic design studio, beginning an independent career that would eventually extend from Italy to the United States.[5][1][2]

Career in Italy

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After working in the studios of Remo Muratore and Max Huber, in 1954 Ottinetti opened his own graphic design studio in Milan. His early recognition came through work for Montecatini and Pirelli, for which he designed not only press advertisements, but also catalogues, printed materials, and trade-fair installations. Working under the name Studio IPI3, the studio expanded during the 1960s to approximately twenty collaborators. Documented clients included Pirelli, Montecatini, Philips, Salmoiraghi, Marazzi, Necchi, Mellin, Busnelli, Lorenz, OM (Officine Meccaniche), La Cimbali and Lebole.[2]

Its work encompassed advertising, corporate identity, editorial design, product catalogs, brochures, packaging, calendars, exhibition graphics, and other forms of visual communication.[8][9][10]

During the 1950s and 1960s, Ottinetti's work appeared in contemporary Italian and international design and advertising publications, including Domus, 2 Dimensioni, Pubblicità in Italia, Modern Publicity, and International Poster Annual. His work for major industrial clients appeared in successive editions of these publications over more than a decade, documenting the breadth and continuity of his professional practice.[6][7][8][9][10]

Move to the United States

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In 1971, Ottinetti closed Studio IPI TRE, the graphic design firm he had founded in Milan in 1954, before emigrating to the United States. He settled in Chicago, Illinois, where he began the second phase of his professional career as a graphic designer and corporate identity consultant.[2][4]

In 1973, Ottinetti joined Kemper Insurance as Art Director, a position he held until September 1976.[3] As Art Director for Kemper, an important insurance group, he developed the company's coordinated image system, including corporate identity standards, annual reports, marketing literature, corporate publications, and related communication materials.[2]

The surviving graphics standards manual and related corporate publications document a significant body of his work in the United States. These materials include the Kemper Corporate Identity Graphics Manual, Kemper Group Logo, Annual Report, Kemper Lakes Logo, Kemper Open Identity System, and Kemper Group Graphic Campaign.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

Following his tenure at Kemper, Ottinetti returned to independent practice as a graphic designer and corporate communications consultant in the Chicago area. His U.S. service brochure documented clients including Seng Trucking Co., Basic Steel Corporation, Visage Cosmetics, Economy Fire & Casualty Co., Houston Food, Lang Ice, Lee-Curtis Insurance, Promex Midwest, Quaker Oats Company, Ribco, and Warrender Fluid Services Inc., for whom he provided corporate communications, advertising, identity systems, and printed publications.[19]

After concluding his career in graphic design, Ottinetti devoted himself to painting.[2]

Professional recognition

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From the early 1950s through the late 1960s, Ottinetti's work appeared repeatedly in Italian and international design annuals, providing a documented record of his professional activity throughout the formative decades of postwar Italian graphic design. His designs appeared in Domus, 2 Dimensioni, Modern Publicity, and successive editions of Pubblicità in Italia, documenting projects created for major Italian industrial and commercial clients.[6][7][9][8]

Ottinetti's work was reproduced in numerous editions of Pubblicità in Italia over more than a decade, including advertising campaigns, brochures, product catalogs, packaging, calendars, posters, and other graphic design projects created for companies such as Pirelli, Montecatini, Philips, Salmoiraghi, Marazzi, and Mellin. These annual publications provide a contemporary record of his professional practice and document the breadth of his work in postwar Italian graphic design.[8]

His work also appeared in International Poster Annual and Modern Publicity, annual publications documenting contemporary graphic design and advertising. Together, these publications provide independent documentation of Ottinetti's professional career from the early 1950s through the late 1960s.[10][9]

Legacy

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Ottinetti's work and career have been documented in independent books, academic publications, documentary films, and institutional archives. His work has been examined in publications including Heinz Waibl: Graphic Designer – The Creative Journey, Italian Types: Graphic Designers from Italy in America, and Alessandro Colizzi's research on Italian designers in Chicago.[1][4][2]

It is also represented in institutional collections, including the Fondazione Pirelli Historical Archive and the Catalogo dei Beni Culturali, has been the subject of lectures, documentary films, and public programs examining the history of Italian graphic design and its influence in North America.[11][12][20][21]

Collections and archives

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Ottinetti's graphic design work is represented in the Fondazione Pirelli Historical Archive and the Catalogo dei Beni Culturali, as well as in corporate and professional publications documenting Italian graphic design.[11][12]

His work has also been reproduced in numerous editions of Pubblicità in Italia, Modern Publicity, Domus, and 2 Dimensioni.[8][9][6][7]

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Waibl, Heinz. Graphic Designer: Il viaggio creativo / The Creative Journey. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Colizzi, Alessandro. L'esperimento americano: Cittato, Waibl, Ottinetti a Chicago. Politecnico di Milano.
  3. 1 2 3 Kemper, James S. Jr. Letter of recommendation for Piero Ottinetti, November 5, 1976.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 D'Onofrio, Greg; Belen, Patricia; Gazzotti, Melania, et al. (eds.). Italian Types: Graphic Designers from Italy in America. 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Fondazione Gramsci. "Giuseppe Montanucci e Giusy Venturi."
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "L'arte nella produzione industriale: Piero Ottinetti." Domus, no. 280, 1953, pp. 64–65.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Piero Ottinetti." 2 Dimensioni. A. Nava, Milan, 1964.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pubblicità in Italia. Annual editions, 1954–1966.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Modern Publicity. Annual editions, 1953–1958.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 International Poster Annual. Annual editions, 1951–1956.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Fondazione Pirelli. Archivio Storico — Disegni e Manifesti.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Ministero della Cultura. Catalogo Generale dei Beni Culturali. Entry: Piero Ottinetti.
  13. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Corporate Identity Graphics Manual — Kemper Group. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  14. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Group Logo. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  15. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Annual Report. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  16. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Lakes Logo. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  17. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Open Identity System. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  18. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Group Graphic Campaign. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  19. 1 2 Ottinetti, Piero. U.S. Practice Brochure / Client Portfolio. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  20. 1 2 Istituto Italiano di Cultura Montréal. Storia di Piero: un designer fra Italia e America.
  21. 1 2 AIAP (Associazione Italiana Design della Comunicazione Visiva). Archivio Italiano Autori della Comunicazione Visiva. Piero Ottinetti entry, 2018.

Bibliography

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Independent books

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  • Waibl, Heinz. Graphic Designer: Il viaggio creativo / The Creative Journey. Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2014.

D'Onofrio, Greg; Belen, Patricia; Gazzotti, Melania, et al. (eds.). Italian Types: Graphic Designers from Italy in America. 2019.

Academic publications

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Colizzi, Alessandro. L'esperimento americano: Cittato, Waibl, Ottinetti a Chicago. Politecnico di Milano.

Contemporary publications

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  • "L'arte nella produzione industriale: Piero Ottinetti." Domus, no. 280, 1953, pp. 64–65.
  • "Piero Ottinetti." 2 Dimensioni. A. Nava, Milan, 1964.
  • "Piero Ottinetti." 2 Dimensioni. July 1969.
  • Stile Industria. April 1955.
  • Pubblicità in Italia. Annual editions, 1954–1966.
  • Modern Publicity. Annual editions, 1953–1958.

International Poster Annual. Annual editions, 1951–1956.

Documentary films and public programs

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  • Colizzi, Alessandro (director). Storia di Piero. Un Designer fra Due Mondi. Documentary film, 2018.
  • Italian Institute of Culture, Montreal. Storia di Piero. Un Designer fra Due Mondi.
  • Associazione Italiana Design della Comunicazione Visiva (AIAP). Faccia a faccia con Piero Ottinetti. Una rilettura della grafica milanese. Milan, 2018.

Italian Cultural Institute of New York and Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography, The Cooper Union. Italian Types: Lecture and Panel Discussion. 2019.

Institutional and archival records

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  • Ministero della Cultura. Catalogo Generale dei Beni Culturali. Entry: Piero Ottinetti.
  • Fondazione Pirelli. Archivio Storico — Disegni e Manifesti.

Marazzi. L'ADV Che Segna Le Epoche’'.

Primary design documentation

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  • Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Corporate Identity Graphics Manual. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  • Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Group Logo. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  • Ottinetti, Piero. Annual Report. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  • Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Lakes Logo. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  • Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Open Identity System. Piero Ottinetti Archive.
  • Ottinetti, Piero. Kemper Group Graphic Campaign. Piero Ottinetti Archive.

Ottinetti, Piero. U.S. Service Brochure / Client Portfolio. Piero Ottinetti Archive.

Research resources

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  • Logobook. "Designer profile: Piero Ottinetti."
  • DesignCulture. Interview with Heinz Waibl mentioning Ottinetti.
  • Academia.edu. L'esperimento americano: Cittato, Waibl, Ottinetti a Chicago.
  • Fondazione Gramsci. "Giuseppe Montanucci e Giusy Venturi."
  • Neptune Society. Piero Ottinetti Obituary. Rolling Meadows, Illinois, 2018.
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