The Royal Palace of Naples, a treasure chest of history and culture, opens to the city with a new graphic design. The new brand was officially presented yesterday evening, on the occasion of the inauguration of the first “European Design Festival”, organized in Naples by AIAP – Italian Association of Visual Communication Design.
The director of the Royal Palace, Mario Epifani, who is also the president of the competition committee, unveiled the new logo and welcomed the winners on stage. The winning team, from Naples and with over 6 years of consolidated work experience, is led by Francesca Pavese, originally from Rome, and is composed of Vito Della Speranza, Francesca Cuomo and Ciro Esposito.
“Behind this emblematic symbol” – Pavese explained – “there is a bold idea and an everlasting bond. We were inspired by the sinuous geometry of Piazza del Plebiscito and the majestic square structure of the building. It is precisely there, in the union of these elements, that the distinctive sign is born. The lines extend, intertwine, in an embrace that evokes not only history, but also the future.”
The symmetry of the two parts of the brand, staggered on the horizontal axis, gives depth and dynamism. The pictogram recalls the “R” for Reale, the “N” for Napoli, but also the royal throne, the symbol par excellence of power. Reflecting on itself, the brand underlines the uniqueness of the structure that stands out on the sea, like a beacon of culture and art.
Il Royal Palace, today more than ever, is destined to rise again as the epicenter of the cultural and artistic life of Naples. Through this new visual identity it is ready to welcome visitors from all over the world, inviting them to discover the grandeur and beauty of this symbolic place of the city, whose history is intertwined with that of Italy and Europe. The new brand of the Royal Palace of Naples is a promise of rebirth, an invitation to discover and celebrate the eternal embrace between the city and its palace.
The winners were awarded a prize of 15.000 euros. The final ranking sees Studio FM (Milan) in second place, Miguel Palmeiro Designer (Porto-Portugal) in third, Giuditta Valentina Gentile (Florence) in fourth and Stefano Tonti (Rimini) in fifth. The non-winning finalists will receive, as reimbursement of expenses, a prize of one thousand euros and their projects will be exhibited inside the Palazzo Reale, on panels created for the festival.
The museum management's desire to renew its image for promotional and communication activities is an integral part of the project that intends to bring the palace back to its international dimension as a theatre of European history.
“The project to reconstruct the identity of the Royal Palace of Naples” – says the director of the Palace, Mario Epifani – “it was our first goal since the launch of the autonomous museum in 2020. With the new visual identity we are working to recover the image of a large royal residence that is not only a museum, but a complex venue, connected to the National Library and the Teatro di San Carlo, as well as a symbolic place for the city.
It is in our interest to give maximum prominence to the treasures that the Palace houses, but also to encourage every possible connection with the other royal residences, both Italian and European, which have the same need to adapt the spaces of what were once the seats of power and the court to the needs of a modern museum. At the same time, we intend to enhance the very close bond of the Palace with the city, as a meeting place and a place for events.”
The call, published at the end of January, received 218 applications. In March, the five finalists were selected by a technical committee composed of:
- Mario Epifani, director of the Royal Palace of Naples
Almerinda Padricelli, architect of the Royal Palace of Naples
Cinzia Ferrara, Professor at the University of Palermo and Past President AIAP
Biagio Di Stefano, Ambassador Campania AIAP
Ilaria Montanari, AIAP National Councilor
“This is the first time that the Royal Palace of Naples has announced a competition for the creation of its own brand through the development of a logo. and the visual identity system – says architect Almerinda Padricelli – A success for the number of applications and for the quality of the proposals of the finalists, of which we had to evaluate the originality, the coherence between the graphic sign of the brand and logo and the entire visual identity system, but also the recognisability and communicative effectiveness of the various elements proposed and the flexibility and versatility of use on analog and digital media”.
“Once again we have had confirmation of the importance of good management in the tendering of services dedicated to visual communication design and in particular to the project of important brands like this one,” says AIAP National President Marco Tortoioli Ricci. “Too often we see how in the policies of strategic affirmation of our major cultural institutions, it is entrusted to simple competitions of ideas without considering the importance of the level of professionalism and without composing commissions that know how to competently evaluate the complexity of the variables that a complex project must be able to cover.”
THE WINNERS
Frances Pavese, Roman, trained in Milan as a student of AG Fronzoni, is the leader of the group. For forty years in the communications sector with numerous works in the field of cultural heritage in her portfolio.
He has curated the image of various exhibitions for Electa, Civita, Artemisia, Mondo Mostre, Fondazione Roma Museo and MAEC – Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca di Cortona – for which he curated the permanent graphic layout. In his work he often associates with high-profile professionals. In 2016 he won the competition for the new visual identity of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples for which he worked for eight years and, in the same year, the one for the complex of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. Two years later he created the coordinated image of the Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei and the graphic layout of Classis Ravenna – Museum of the city and the territory, for which he continues to design temporary exhibitions.
Over the last two years he has held numerous exhibitions in Rome, at the Colosseum Archaeological Park, at the Domus Aurea, at the Scuderie del Quirinale and at the Museum of Rome at Palazzo Braschi.
Vito of Hope, from Ischia, is a designer specialized in visual communication, brand identity and web design, graduated from the Istituto Superiore di Design in Naples. He collaborated with Zelig Comunicazione, with which he participated in the team that won the Compasso d'Oro XX edition in 2004 for the visual identity of the Archaeological Superintendency of Pompeii. His client portfolio includes Scabec, Electa Mondadori, Mibac, CoopCulture, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Municipality of Naples but also prestigious brands such as Ferretti Group, Mercedes and, from his homeland, the Archaeological Museum of Pithecusae.
From 2011 to 2016 he was a teacher of graphic design at the Istituto Superiore di Design Napoli, since 2015 he has been a founding member of Sintesi Studio.
Cyrus Esposito, a visual designer also from Ischia, studied at the Istituto Superiore di Design in Naples.
He collaborated with “Zelig image and communication” as a visual designer for six years following projects for prestigious companies and institutions such as: Archaeological Superintendence of Pompeii, Cantieri Navali Rizzardi, Colombo Yacht, Canados Yacht. Since 2015 he has been a founding member of Sintesi Studio. The main projects followed to date are: Kiton, KNT Kiton New Texture, Sartorio Napoli, MANN National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Maggio dei Monumenti.
Francesca Cuomo is a Neapolitan graphic designer and art director, trained at the Istituto Superiore di Design in Naples. She has worked in Naples and Rome with various studios and communication agencies including “Zelig immagine e comunicazione” and “Roncaglia & Wijkander”. She has signed several projects for numerous national and international public and private companies such as MAXXI, Mercedes, Eni, Bnl and Poste Italiane. She founded the communication network “Brainboxadv” continuing her career as a freelance art director.
He currently also holds the role of Chef Marketing Officer at “Zero-90 srl” in Milan.
Article published on May 31, 2024 - 14:58 pm
