Di Ferro e Cuoio
Cover design and visual identity for a writer's debut novel
Di Ferro e Cuoio (Italian for Of Iron and Leather) is the first novel by my dear friend Marco M. Colombo.
We both grew up in Sesto San Giovanni, a (post)-industrial city on the outskirts of Milan, which serves as the setting, and as a character in itself, in Marco's book. He writes about the hardships, the boredom and the fun of coming of age in the suburbs, on the background of the abandoned factories that were once Italy's industrial powerhouse.
This was a very special project for me to work on: I had the chance to design the cover of a book I somehow felt part of. It felt natural to us to seek visual inspiration in the history of the town that is so crucial in the novel: after researching Sesto San Giovanni’s history and development, we chose to celebrate its industrial and political past with a visual language reminiscent of early 20th Century constructivist posters.
Once the cover design was ready, Marco asked us to also work on some collateral materials: a cover for the soundtrack album (by famed Italian producer Matteo Cantaluppi), social media assets and a bookmark.
Project in collaboration w/Francesca Oprandi
Images above were collected from Pinterest
